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Chipping Sparrow 



NATURE STUDY 

BIRDS 



By 

Chester A. Reed,, B. S. 

Author of "Land Birds/' "Water Birds/' "North American 

Birds' Eggs/' "Flower Guide/' etc. 

Curator in Ornithology^ Worcester Museum of 

Natural History. 



A Book for Beginners in Bird Study 



Forty Illustrations in Colors 



CHAS. K. REED 

Worcester, Mass. 
1910 



Copyrighted 1910 
Chas. K. Reed 

Worcester, Mass. 



Press of 

A. M. Eddy 

Albion, N. Y. 



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INTRODUCTION 

This book is prepared for the large number of wide- 
awake boys and girls who are interested in the study and 
observation of our wild birds. It will be of the greatest 
assistance to novices_, those just entering the field of orni- 
thology, as the study of birds is called. I am quite sure that 
those already well versed in bird lore will find the many 
facts worked into the bird stories to be of interest and value 
to them. 

It may be of interest to note that every occurrence or in- 
cident relating to bird life is based on actual facts and not 
imagination. 

The book is divided into two parts^ the first containing 
many facts concerning bird life in general, — facts which 
everyone should know as a matter of information and facts 
that every student of birds must know before he or she can 
make satisfactory progress. The second part contains bird 
stories as related to Dorothy and Dick by their ''Uncle 
George/' The forty birds illustrated and talked about rep- 
resent practically all the families of birds anyone except the 
professional naturalist is apt to find. 

These bird stories will make entertaining reading for 
children in their homes and will be used in the school for 



general reading and as a basis for composition work. For 
this purpose, all the little colored bird pictures have been 
printed separately and may be secured at book stores or of 
the publisher at the rate of a penny each, — in lots of ten or 
more, assorted or alike, as wished. Many uses for these 
little pictures will suggest themselves : Composition work, 
scrap books, postcard albums, grouped and framed as pic- 
tures for the home or school room, to enclose in letters to 
birdloving friends, etc. 

The index in the back of the book contains not only the 
names of the birds included in its pages, but additional data 
in regard to their ranges, etc. 



BIRD LORE 
Part I. 

All birds have feathers and no animals^, other than birds,, 
do wear feathers. Birds are more closely related to lizards 
than to any others of the animal family,, in fact their struc- 
ture is quite lizard-like in many respects. It has been prov- 
ed quite conclusively that birds and lizards,, in prehistoric 
times,, had a common ancestor. 

Birds have been classified and grouped into "Orders" 
according to the degree of refinement in their structures. 
The lower order among our Xorth American birds is made 
up of the grebes and loons^ while the highest development 
is attained in the thrushes. 

With the exception of a few kinds of birds that show 
bare skin on parts of the head^ birds are covered with feath- 
ers. Feathers do not,, however^ grow uniformly over the 
body; as a rule they are in tracts or patches with large bare 
spaces between. We do not see these bare spaces on liv- 
ing birds because the feathers on both sides lap over and 
cover them. 

Feathers are very poor conductors of heat or cold; they 
make perfect clothes for birds either in winter or summer. 



If the weather is very cold, birds simply fluff their feathers 
out and the cushion of air underneath makes them a much 
thicker and warmer coat. You can readily see this in the 
puffy appearance of the household canary when it is cold. 

CHANGING THEIR CLOTHES.— All birds get new 
feathers at least once a year, and some twice a year. This 
changing of feathers is called moulting. Since they can- 
not change their clothing at will, birds have to be careful to 
keep their feathers clean and in good condition. Most of 
them are very neat and spend a great deal of time in pick- 
ing over and preening the feathers. 

Most all birds have tiny oil glands at the base of the 
tail; in the case of water birds these glands are quite large. 
They get small quantities of an oily liquid from these, with 
which to dress their feathers; this renders the close-fitting 
plumage of ducks and other swimming birds impervious to 
water. 

As I have said, all healthy birds moult at least once a 
year, usually just after the nesting season. During this 
first moult practically all the feathers are changed, some- 
times so many of them being lost at once that the bird is 
unable to fly; this commonly happens in the case of ducks 
and other swimming birds. Birds that moult twice a year 
go through the second operation early in spring; this sec- 
ond moult is not as complete a one as the regular summer 
moult; the feathers are lost and replaced gradually, but 



often startling changes occur in the resulting plumage^ such 
as plumes or ornaments on certain male birds. 

During the summer rnoult, the males of a great many spe- 
cies, especially if they are bright colored and very different- 
ly plumaged from the females, assume the dull-colored 
dress of their mates. Of course in the spring moult their 
bright colors are assumed again; tanagers, bobolinks and 
many of the ducks well illustrate these changes. 

There is another method of changing the plumage in 
springs that takes place without moulting. It is caused by 
the wearing or falling away of the outer edges of some of 
the feathers, exposing some other cclor underneath. This 
is well illustrated in the cases of the Snow Bunting and some 
of the longspurs. The former loses all of the brown that 
shows on the tips of the feathers in winter and also all of the 
white edging to the feathers on the back, so that its back is 
jet black and the rest of the plumage almost spotless white, 
■ — this change being accomplished without the loss of any 
feathers. 

All young birds are born covered with down, but those 
that remain in the nest for a short period have so little of 
it that they often appear to be entirely naked. This down is 
rapidly replaced by feathers, those of the wings and tail 
growing most rapidly. The following rule will, in most 
cases, apply to the first plumages of young birds of various 
species, but of course it has its exceptions: if the plumages 



of the parent birds are very different, the male being the 
brighter, the first plumage of their young will probably re- 
semble that of the mother; if the parents are similar in 
plumage, that of the young will probably be different from 
either. The first case is shown by tanagers, orioles, gold- 
finches, etc., and the second by bluebirds, robins, Chipping 
Sparrows, etc., the young of which have spotted breasts 
while those of the parents are plain. 

Some birds get their full adult plumage the first spring 
after birth while others do not attain full plumage for two 
or even three years. A good example of this is shown by 
the Orchard Oriole. During the first fall, the young male 
resembles his mother; in the second year he has the color- 
ing of the female but has in addition a large black patch 
on the throat; in the third year he attains the perfect black 
and chestnut plumage of the adult male. 

With every family of our birds except one, when there 
is difference in plumage between the sexes, the male is the 
more beautifully clothed. The exception is in the case of 
Phalaropes. The females of this family of shore birds are 
more brilliantly plumaged than the males and furthermore 
they do all the courtship, — a complete reversal of the man- 
ners of other birds. While Mrs. Phalarope lays the eggs 
in the nest, it is the male bird that has to attend to the duties 
of incubation. 

MIGRATION. — Birds inhabit nearly every portion of 



9 

the earth: In the tropics, where the temperature is always 
very warm, we find great numbers of many kinds of birds. 
In the North, far beyond the limit of trees, we still find 
birds in large numbers, during the summer, but of fewer 
kinds. Wherever food can be obtained, birds will be found. 

Growth takes place very rapidly in the Arctic regions ; 
for a brief period all exposed land abounds in insect life 
and vegetation, then it as rapidly disappears. As the food 
supply decreases and the weather becomes colder, most of 
the birds have to move southward. 

The moving southward of birds in fall and northward in 
spring is called migration. It is a kind of migration when 
a man and his family regularly move to their country home 
in summer and to the city in winter ; only, with the birds, it 
is a necessary migration and has become an instinctive habit 
so that, at a certain time each year, flocks of the same kinds 
of birds gather together ready to start their journey. 

Some birds like cold weather and others do not; some 
make long migrations and others short ones. The tiny hum- 
mingbird flies twice a year, between here and Central Amer- 
ica, and some of them from as far north as Labrador, — 
about three thousand miles, an almost incredible distance for 
such tiny birds to travel. The Golden Plover travels from 
the west coast of Hudson Bay to Brazil and even to Pata- 
gonia, a distance of fully eight thousand miles, twice a year. 

On the other hand, some of the birds such as grouse and 



10 

some owls may migrate but a few miles or may stay in the 
same locality all the time. Chickadees may be found in the 
northern states at all times, but the ones that are here in 
winter are those that have come from farther north while 
those that were here in summer have migrated to localities 
a little farther south. 

One of the best methods of studying birds is the keep- 
ing of migration records, that is dates of the first arrival of 
each species in spring and of their departure in fall. This 
gets anyone out of doors each morning and keeps one "on 
the jump" trying to find new kinds of birds. But, what- 
ever you do, do not let your imagination run away with you. 
I often have persons describe birds they have seen, — birds 
that never lived in this nor any other country, yet they be- 
lieved they saw such birds. Should you see one you do not 
recognize, look him over very, very carefully; move about so 
as to see him from another position; remember that the 
shadow of a branch may cause the throat of a bird to appear 
black, even though it is really white. 

FLIGHT. — A very interesting field of observation is that 
of bird flight, — the manner of flying and the speed that dif- 
ferent species are capable of. It is a field that has hardly 
been touched and offers many problems for the boys and 
girls to solve. We used to read of birds flying at the rate 
of a hundred miles an hour or more, but as a matter of fact 
no living bird ever reached anywhere near that speed. Pos- 



11 



sibly some of the ducks may spurt for a very short distance 
at the rate of seventy miles per hour. It is quite evident 
that the average ordinary rate of flight of all birds, large 
and small will not exceed twenty miles an hour. 

When traveling it is very interesting to compare the speed 
of birds going in the same direction with that of the train. 

Nearly every bird has some peculiarity in its fight or in 
the shape of its wings that will identify it easily at a dis- 
tance to the trained naturalist. It is a pleasure and should 
be the aim of every boy and girl to be able to know most of 
the birds in this way. 

The high-speed camera has been of great value in show- 
ing many features of the flight of the larger birds, such as 
the extent to which the wings are raised and how far they 
are carried down at each stroke. It also shows that when 
in full flighty the primaries, or long outer wing feathers, are 
widely separated. 

You know how fast the wings of a hummingbird buzz, — 
so rapidly as to be just a blur to the eye. The modern cam- 
era shutter will take a picture in the remarkably short space 
of time of one thousandth part of a second; yet it has been 
proved that even when taken as quickly as this, the wings of 
a flying hummingbird still show as a blur in the picture. 

PLUMAGE AND COLOR PROTECTION.— As a rule 
most birds are colored, or have their markings so arranged as 
to harmonize with their chosen surroundings. Most birds that 



12 



live or spend the greater part of their time on the ground 
are some shade of brown, usually either streaked or barred. 

Even though the male bird is gaudily dressed, his mate 
is often clad in brown or some dull color so she is not at all 
conspicuous when sitting upon her nest, whether it be in a 
tree or on the ground. Even bright colored birds that fre- 
quent green trees do not show up as plainly as one would 
think; the sunlight filtering through the leaves makes spots 
of many colors and shades and you hardly notice the addi- 
tion of another bright spot in the shape of a bird. This 
would be particularly true if we were in the position of 
hawks sailing over the tops of the trees. 

One of the very best examples of color protection is shown 
by the Whip-poor-will. His plumage matches the coloring 
of dead leaves and sticks rjerfectly. I have made several 
photographs of these birds on their nests and although the 
picture may be perfectly sharp, it is quite difficult to make 
.out the form of the bird. 

NEST BUILDING. 

Perhaps the most interesting feature of bird life is the 
nest building. The various families of birds build their 
homes so differently and some of them display so much skill 
that we have to admire them. Many different trades are 
represented in the making of homes of some of our common 
birds. 



13 



MASONS. — Robins, Phoebes, Barn and Cliff Swallows 
are among the most skilful masons ; the flask-like nest that 
the Cliff Swallow sometimes makes is a wonderful piece of 
work for a bird to do. In the West, colonies of them attach 
their nests to the faces of cliffs, but in the East they are per- 
haps better known as Eave Swallows, because they attach 
their nests on the outside of buildings, under the eaves. Bit 
by bit, pieces of mud are cemented in place until a globe- 
shaped vessel is formed; the entrance to this is through a 
neck or hole in the side. 

CARPENTERS. — All the woodpeckers may be classed 
as carpenters, because they bore or hammer into trees to 
make their houses. Nuthatches, chickadees and several 
other birds make their homes in trees but it is necessary 
that the wood be decayed so they can pick out a cavity; 
woodpeckers can bore their way into living wood with their 
chisel-like bills. The large Pileated Woodpecker sometimes 
chisels holes twenty or even thirty inches in depth in solid 
wood. 

TAILORS. — A great many of the birds weave pretty and 
strong nests but for skill as tailors none of our birds can 
compare with the members of the oriole family. The long, 
pouch-shaped nest of the Baltimore Oriole is so well made 
that we often see nests, two or three years old, swinging 
from the outer branches of elm trees. If you have never 



14 

seen orioles building their nest, it will be well worth your 
while to watch them. Both birds engage in the work, the 
female of course doing the greater share. When the nest is 
most completed^ you may often see both birds working in- 
dustriously at the same time; the female on the inside and 
the male hanging to the outside. Some children have fun 
placing colored yarn where the orioles will get it and weave 
it into their homes ; of times very peculiar effects in color are 
made. 

BASKET-MAKERS. — Many birds weave their nests in 
the form of baskets; but the best examples of this kind of 
work are shown by the vireos. Their nests are made of 
grasses and strips of bark firmly woven in the form of lit- 
tle baskets^ and suspended by the rims from forked 
branches. Often they work bits of newspaper into the out- 
side; too. 

CURIOUS XESTS.— The majority of birds build con- 
ventional nests and; as a rule; members of the same family 
build nests similar in character. Grebes gather decaying 
rushes^ form them into piles on the water and on these wet; 
floating masses lay their eggs. Auks lay their single eggs 
on bare ledges of rock; these eggs are usually large and 
round at one end and quite pointed at the other so that; if 
they are moved; they will roll around in a circle instead of 
rolling off the ledge. 



15 

The tiny California Bush-tit, scarcely bigger than our 
hummingbird, makes a purse-shaped nest, sometimes as 
long as fourteen inches; this is quite slender at the top, 
where there is an opening in the side, and larger at the bot- 
tom, making a little room for the eggs and little birdies. 

The Dipper or Water Ouzel, a short-tailed, gray bird 
about the size of a bluebird, found in the Rocky Mountains, 
makes a round nest of moss; this is placed under overhang- 
ing banks along streams and often is under rocks where the 
bird has to dive through a waterfall to get to it. 

Our Parula Warbler makes a dainty nest and one that is 
quite difficult to find. Many decaying cedar swamps have 
quantities of long, drooping moss hanging from the 
branches. The little warbler turns up and weaves together 
the ends of these, forming a little pocket that is lined with 
fine grasses or hair, and makes a soft and safe bed for the 
eggs and young. 

The Scott Oriole found on our Mexican border sews its 
purse-shaped nest to the under side of palm leaves. 

The Chimney Swift glues sticks to the inner walls of 
chimneys so as to make a frail platform for its white eggs. 

Eggs of birds of different families differ as greatly as the 
homes they are laid in. They range in size from that of 
the hummingbird, about the size of an ordinary bean, to that 
of the California Vulture, measuring four and a half inches 
long. In color they vary from the pure glossy white of 



woodpecker eggs to the deep greenish-blue of those of the 
Catbird; to those of Ptarmigan, so heavily blotched with 
blackish-brown as to appear almost black; and to those of 
the Duck Hawk, often so plentifully sprinkled with brown 
as to appear almost uniform in color. 



BIRD STUDIES. 
Part II. 

The subjects for the forty stories on the following pages 
have been chosen so as to represent all the common bird 
families,, with a view to giving the reader a general idea 
about the habits of the birds of each family. 

For school use we have all of these little bird pictures print- 
ed separately on small paper with no text except the name of 
the bird. These may be used for composition work or may 
be grouped artistically for framing. They can be secured 
for a penny each at bookstores or will be mailed by Chas K. 
Reed. Worcester. Mass. They may be assorted as you wish 
but must be ordered not less than ten at a time. 




"Uncle George !" called Dick, "come 
out here, I want to show you some- 
thing/' 

Following the sound of his voice, I 
soon found him perched, boy-fashion, 
astride a limb, in one of the apple 
trees. 

"See! A Bluebird has made a nest 
in this hole, and there are five of the 
cutest blue eggs in it. Jimmie wanted 
to take one of them, but I wouldn't let 
him." 

"That's right, Dick ! If Jimmie had 
taken one of them, the mother bird 
would probably have deserted the nest. Never disturb the 
nest of a bird, nor allow your companions to, if you can pre- 
vent it." 

"There's the male bird now !" exclaimed Dick, "isn't he 
a beauty ! See how his back glistens in the sun, — brighter 
than the bluest sky. And there's Mrs. Bluebird too, in the 
next tree. They are not a bit afraid of me for they know I 
would not harm them. I watched them building the nest; 
she kept bringing dead grasses and carrying them in, but 
he did not offer to help her, — just followed her about, sing- 
ing, while she did the work. Today, though, I saw him 



From "Land Birds' 

BLUEBIRD 



19 



bring a green worm and take it to her while she was sitting 
on the eggs, so I guess he is not such a bad fellow after all." 

"That is the way with the bird world. Dick; the male 
birds wear fine clothes and. perhaps, sing beautiful songs. 
while their plainly clad mates are busy with household 
duties. Still, when the little birdies appear, you will find 
that yon brilliantly garbed chevalier will do his best to sup- 
ply them with the many, many insects they require." 

When, two weeks later, five, lusty, clamoring little birds 
filled the nest. Dick found that both parents were very busy 
indeed supplying their needs. 

One day Dick, and his sister Dorothy, who had been daily 
watching the growth of the little Bluebirds, rushed into the 
room crying in concert — "Uncle George ! They have left 
the nest and the mother is teaching them to fly; and." added 
Dorothy, "they are the dearest things and they all have 
speckled breasts." 

"Yes. children ! Bluebirds belong to the Thrush family, 
and the young of all these birds have spotted breasts even 
though their parents do not. In the fall, they change their 
dress so that, when they leave in November, you can hardly 
tell them from their parents." 

"I don't like to see them go." said Dick, "for it means 
'good-bye to summer' and no more 'bird walks'" until spring." 









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"Chickadee-dee-dee/' the sound 
came faintly to us from the far end of 
the orchard; but Dick's alert ears in- 
stantly caught it. 

"There is a Chickadee! No,, — two 
of them in the last apple tree/' called 
the boy. 

"I like Chickadees/' ventured Dor- 
othy,, "they are such dainty,, tiny. 
feathered mites ; always happy and 
very busy^ — besides they stay with us 
all winter and Dick and I have such 
fun watching them eat the suet and 
nuts we put out for them." 
come right on the window sill. But, 
uncle^ how can they keep warm on very cold winter nights 
without any houses to shelter them?" 

"Oh^ Dorothy, but they do have their houses ; not big 
ones like yours to live in,, year in and year out. but every lit- 
tle crevice or niche under boulders or overhanging banks,, 
every hole in decayed stumps or trees^ even the dense foliage 
of pines and cedars furnishes cozy little retreats where they 
can spend the night in comfort. Our winter birds suffer 
real hardship only when ice storms cover everything with 



From "Land Birds'' 

CHICKADEE 

"Sometimes they 



21 



a hard coating »o they cannot get at the insect eggs and 
larvae that they require for food. 

"Perhaps we can find a Chickadee nest some day. Did 
you ever see one, Dick?" 

"No, Uncle George, but I have hunted everywhere to find 
one. when I knew it was very near." 

"Perhaps, Dick, you did not look in the right place. " 
"But I looked everywhere, — on the ground, in the bushes 
and in the trees." 

"What kind of trees were they, Dick?" 
"Why, most of them were birches, I think." 
"1 thought so. You may not have noticed it, but probab- 
ly one of those birches was decayed, — perhaps just a stump 
left; near the top of that stump you might have found a lit- 
tle round hole; if you had looked inside you might have 
seen the eggs on a very soft bed of quilted plant fibres and 
feathers ; — beautiful little eggs, — pinkish-white with tiny 
reddish-brown specks all over them. One nest I found had 
ten eggs; they all hatched and you can imagine how crowd- 
ed the little home was and what a scramble there was when 
mother brought them their dinner." 

"I am glad, children, that you like the Chickadees, and 
feed them winters. It is generally agreed that they are 
very, very good little birds to have around, for they eat so 
very many bad little insects." 




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22 




"Sometimes Nuthatches would come 
to our lunch counter, too;" said Dor- 
othy; "they are such droll creatures 
and have such a queer way of climb- 
ing about upside down; even their 
voices are funny, — about half way be- 
tween the sound of a penny horn and 
the weak quacking of a duck/' 

"Do either of you know why the 
Nuthatch is so often seen 'upside 
down' as Dorothy calls it?" 

"No, why is it?" came eagerly from 
both children in unison. 

"Well, his acrobatic feats are caus- 
ed by his fondness for insect eggs, larvae and beetles that 
are found only in the crevices or under the bark of trees. 
The Nuthatch has no stiff tail feathers to help support him 
as woodpeckers have, so it would be very difficult for him to 
climb upward. Many birds simply cling to the bark of a 
tree while they gather a few morsels that happen to be 
within reach, but Sir Nuthatch was, perhaps, wiser than 
they for he found that by spreading his feet wide apart, 



From "Land Birds' 

NUTHATCH 



23 



one under his breast and the other reaching backward and 
grasping the bark, he could quite easily progress downward 
or around a tree, with a sort of 'hitching' motion. 

"This inverted position often aids the little fellow, too, in 
prying up the bark to get insects or eggs that are concealed 
underneath, for his weight being above the lever (his bill) 
assists him just as a man's weight often helps in prying with 
a crowbar." 

"Do Nuthatches make their homes in holes of trees, the 
same as chickadees do," asked Dick. 

"They do, but they love the big woods so that is where 
most of them make their homes, usually high up in oak or 
chestnut trees. They seem to be gradually changing their 
haunts, as birds sometimes do, for in the last few years 
numerous instances of nuthatches building their nests close 
to dwellings have been reported. Three years ago, I found 
one in a decayed apple tree within reach from a window of 
a farm house. Perhaps the kindness of boys and girls in 
feeding them winters is bearing fruit and, in time, they may 
become as friendfy with us as bluebirds and chickadees 
are." 





24 



"Come, children, we will go down 
toward the brook for our 'bird walk' 
this afternoon. I was down there this 
morning while Dick was playing with 
his friend Jimmie, and I have found a 
surprise for both of you." 

"Oh, Uncle George, what is it?" 
"Wait a moment; do not get impa- 
patient. There, — we will get over the 
wall now and see what is in this little 
apple tre.\" 

A few moments later and Dick and 
Dorothy were peering into the end of a 
hollow, broken-off limb just on a level 



From "Land Birds' 

HOUSE WREN 

with their eyes. 

Their surprise and gratification was immediately shown 
by the volley of "Oh's" and other exclamations that rang 
out. 

"Aren't they lovely? One-two-three-four-five-six-seven, 
— seven of them, but who do they belong to?" exclaimed 
Dorothy. 

"I know," shouted the excited boy, "It is the House 
Wren. There is a picture of one in my 'Bird Guide' just 
about to go in a hole in an apple tree, almost exactly like 



25 



this one. And I remember that it says the eggs are all cov- 
ered with pinkish-brown dots." 

"You are right, Dick, it is the home of a pair of House 
Wrens. Let us go back to the wall and watch for them to 
return." 

In a few minutes a little brown bird came speeding across 
the field to the tree, stopped just an instant in view, then 
dove in the opening and settled on her treasures. 

An instant later, another little brown bird appeared, the 
exact counterpart of the first one. He perched on a twig 
where he could see into the nest, lifted his head, swelled out 
his throat and poured forth his song, — the sweetest, most 
rollicking, rippling, soul-stirring melody of any wild bird. 

"Isn't it beautiful," exclaimed Dorothy, "I never knew a 
bird could sing like that." 

"All the Wrens have loud songs, Dorothy ,> but none of the 
others can sing as sweetly as this kind." 

"Everyone likes Wrens, and they seem to know it, for 
they show little fear of man and like to make their homes 
in little houses that are built for them, no matter how rude- 
ly they are constructed. They sometimes even come into 
houses through open windows and make their nests inside." 





26 



"We will follow this wall down past 
the thicket and, if I am not mistaken, 
I think we will find another nest, — one 
not inside a tree this time/' 

"I wonder what it will be/' said 
Dorothy. 

As if to answer her, a dark gray 
bird nearly the size of a Robin, came 
from the heart of the thicket and, 
perched on the top of a dead thorn 
branch, sang a medley of notes, some 
his own and others imitating those of 
other birds ; as a fitting end to his song 
he added a cat-like "meouw." 
Oh, it's a Catbird !" exclaimed Dorothy. 
"Let us see who can first find its nest," added Dick, fol- 
lowing his suggestion by plunging into the thicket. 

Catbirds are very brave and also very noisy in the de- 
fense of their homes. Not knowing that we would do them 
no harm, both birds fluttered about giving harsh calls and 
meouws. 

"Oh, Dick, come here !" called Dorothy, "I am sure this 
is a nest but the briers are so sharp I cannot get to it." 
Sure enough, it was the nest that our gray friends were so 




From "Land 

CATBIRD 



3irds" 



27 



anxious about. It was quite large and strongly made of 
fine black rootlets, a few larger twigs and many strips of 
grapevine bark. 

"No wonder they were so anxious/' said Dick, after wad- 
ing through the tangle of blackberry vines and reaching the 
nest, "for there are four little Catbirds here, only about two 
days old, — queer little things all covered with black pin- 
feathers." 

Touched by the actions of the parent birds, with their 
scolding and dashing at the boy in their distress, little Dor- 
othy suddenly exclaimed: 

"Oh, Uncle George! Let us go away and leave poor "Kit- 
ty-bird' alone with her babies." 

Elated at seeing us depart, mother Catbird at once went 
to her nest and brooded her little ones while her mate perch- 
ed on the highest twig of the nesting bush and warbled joy- 
ously, in a lower voice than when we had first heard him, asVft 
though he were thankful that they had escaped the threat- ^ 
ened danger to their home. (^(l£ 



We followed the path to the edge of the brook and, seat- ^Miyf ^ 
ed on a large boulder in the cool shade of the woods, lis- fe^\j7^^^ 
tened to the many happy songsters about us. 





\VW%\ 



28 

Warblers were flitting about every- 
where. The Maryland Yellow-throat 
was the most noisy; from his perch on 
the top of an alder he would sing his 
"wichery-wichery-wichery," then with 
a sputtering alarm note, sounding like 
a watchman's rattle, he would dash 
into the thicket; a moment later we 
would hear him scolding and see him 
peering at us from among the leaves, 
his little black eyes twinkling in the 
jet black mask of his face. "Ah!" 
cried Dick as a small black and orange 
bird dashed out into the air and snap- 
ped up a small moth, "There is a Redstart. I think they 
are the prettiest and best of all the warblers. See how live- 
ly he is, — his wings fluttering all the time and his tail open- 
ing and shutting just like a fan. I think he knows he is 
beautiful and wants us to notice him." 

"You are right, Dick, the Redstart is the best of the 
warblers. Nearly all of them are beautiful and they are 
all very useful too, but Sir Redstart does the most good of 
them all. He catches a greater variety of insects than any 
of the others, getting them from the ground, the bark of 




From "Land Birds 

REDSTART 



29 



the trees, from the leaves or, as we have just seen, catching 
them in mid air. 

"You will notice if you get close enough to him that his 
bill is broad and flat at its base, very much like the bills of 
flycatchers, and his mouth is surrounded by bristles like 
those of most birds that have the habit of catching their 
food while on the wing." 

"I wonder where his mate is?" asked Dorothy. 

"Well, as he does not go very far away from here, I sus- 
pect that she is in one of the nearby trees ; probably with 
just her head and tail in sight above the edge of a hand- 
some little nest. It is almost useless to look for the nest 
though, unless you can see her and watch her go to it. It 
is just a little cup of softly quilted, gray, plant fibres, safe- 
ly and firmly bound in the crotch of some small tree. 

"Probably they have eggs in their nest; otherwise Mr. 
Redstart would not be so industriously getting his own din- 
ner, but would be gathering all the choice morsels he could 
find for his little birdies. You would be surprised to see 
some of the things they bring to their young, — worms, cater- 
pillars, gnats, plant lice, small grasshoppers and small hard- 
shelled beetles ; when watching them I have often been 
afraid some of the insects they brought would choke the 
little fellows, but they always mastered them and were 
soon calling for more. 



i 






30 



"Well; Dorothy, have you rested 
long enough ?" 

"Yes, Uncle George. Where will we 
go now?" 

"A few moments ago, I heard a bird 
that you will be interested in, singing 
in that little clump of pines over 
there." 

"Oh, Uncle George, how is it that 
you can always recognize the songs 
of all the birds when so many are 
singing at once?" 

"It is all in practice, Dick. The 
well trained naturalist could, if led 
through the woods blindfolded, name nearly every bird thai; 
called, chipped or sung/' 

By this time we were under the pines and the song was 
plainly heard by both children. 

"There! It is singing again. It sounds like 'zwee-zwee- 
zu-zee' : I wonder what it can be," said Dorothy. 

"Look sharp and you will soon see him. Notice how well 
his song fits with the sound of the wind in the tree-tops; 
some birdlovers have likened his song to the words 'Trees, 
trees, murmuring trees'. Do you not think it sounds some- 
thing like it." 



From "Land Birds' 

BLACK-THROATED 
GREEN WARBLER 



31 



"Yes," said Dick. "I see him! It is a little bird and he 
has a black throat, — and yellow face, — and white on his 
wings. I do not think I ever saw one before. What is it, 
Uncle George?" 

"It is the Black-throated Green Warbler. It is rather a 
long clumsy name for so small a bird, but it describes him 
pretty well, for his back is quite greenish. In summer you 
seldom find them far from pine groves, but during their 
migrations, you may very often see them with other war- 
blers. 

"It is very hard to find their little nests,, — cunningly con- 
cealed in tufts of pine needles near the tops of the trees. 
The birds are quite clever too^ for it has often been observ- 
ed that, when they thought there was danger of their nest 
being founds they would commence carrying grasses and 
rootlets to another tree, apparently trying to deceive you 
into thinking they were just commencing their nest. The 
only other warbler that has, as far as I know, been known to 
mislead one in this way is the Prairie Warbler. 

"Besides Black-throated Greens, we nearly always find 
Pine Warblers in pine groves ; to these two little warblers 
and the tiny Chickadee belongs the chief credit for destroy- 
ing insects that ravage the pines. 




32 




"Right in that dead tree beyond the 
last pine^ we saw a Shrike^ last springs 
didn't we Dorothy?" 

"Yes,, Dick; and do you remember 
how loudly he whistled? We did not 
know what it was at firsts — until we 
found his picture in our 'Bird 
Guide/ " 

"Did you eyer see a Shrike catch a 
birdj Uncle George?" 

"Yes j Dick; I have often seen them 
catch English Sparrows. They hunt 
in two different ways : — Sometimes 
they sit on a lookout perch in the 
open, and pursue and strike down passing little birds ; or 
they may conceal themselves in vines or bushes and pounce 
upon prey that comes within their reach. 

"Shrikes are not nearly as destructive birds as they are 
often called. Indeed they sometimes are quite useful. They 
destroy a great many grasshoppers and other large insects 
and also kill a great many field mice. When they can get 
insects or mice,, they rarely touch little birds. 

"Their beaks are very sharp and hooked,, but their feet 
*-re like those of a Robim — not strong enough to hold thei7 



From "Land Birds" 

SHRIKE 



zz 



prey firmly while they tear it to pieces. It is for this reason 
that they have to impale birds, mice or insects on thorns, 
the barbs of wire fences or hang them in forked branches. 

"When a Shrike is in a hunting mood, he often kills a 
great deal more than he can eat; that is why we sometimes 
see mice or little birds hung up but untouched. 

"When they are hungry. Shrikes are very, very bold. 
They have been known to dash into windows and try to 
seize canaries from between the wires of their cages. Once 
I saw one pounce upon an English Sparrow in the street ; 
the sparrow was killed at the first blow, but the shrike did 
not let go of his hold even when he and his prey were both 
picked up and carried into the house. He continued to pull 
and tear at the sparrow while I held it in my hand. I think 
he must have been very, very hungry." 

"Well, we have had a fine afternoon's walk and I think 
it is about time we started for home." 

"Yes, Uncle, we have had a fine time and learned a great 
deal about birds this afternoon. When we get home I want 
to show vou the Barn Swallow nests in the barn." 





"There are some of the swallows 
flying about now/' said Dick as soon 
as we came within sight of the barn. 
"See, one of the window panes in the 
gable is taken out every spring so that 
they will always be able to get in." 

The barn was a large one with dou- 
ble lofts, although of course, they were 
nearly empty at this time (in June.) 
Dick led the way up two ladders and 
then proudly pointed out three Barn 
Swallow nests that were in use and 
several old ones. 

"Two days ago, that nest over the 
top of the window had five eggs in it; the one on the third 
rafter had four little birds and this one had only one egg. 

"See that rope that hangs between those two rafters ? 
The swallows use that for a resting place. Nearly always 
there are one or two of them sitting side by side on it. See, 
Uncle ! Here comes one of them in through the door now. 
He has a large gnat in his bill. Yes, — he is going to the 
nest with the little ones." 

Hanging upright on the side of the nest, the Swallow 



From "Land Birds" 

BARN SWALLOW 



35 



rapidly gave each of his little ones a morsel, for, besides 
the insect that was in sight in his bill, he had several others 
securely packed in his mouth. It was a very pretty sight to 
see the little ones waving their wings in their eagerness to 
be fed. 

The ease and grace of a swallow's flight was well shown 
by this bird, when he fell backwards from the edge of the 
nest, caught himself on out-stretched wings and slid down 
the air out through the barn door without any flapping. 

Nothing would satisfy Dick until I climbed up the little 
ladder he kept there for the purpose, and looked at the nest 
containing the five eggs. It was a well-built swallow nest, 
made of mud and fine straws, the outside being decorated 
with little round pellets of mud so that it was very rough; 
the inside, as usual, was very warmly lined with soft feath- 
ers from the barnyard fowls. The eggs were very pretty, — 
creamy- white with bright reddish-brown spots. 

"You have some good bird friends here, Dick; and the 
best part of it is that the very same birds return to the 
same spot year after year unless some accident happens or 
someone is unkind to them." 



*V 





86 



"Well, children, which way shall we 
go this fine morning?" 

"I would like to go up in the big 
woods/' said Dick; "I have only been 
there once this year." 

"All right, it is the big woods for this 
morning. We have about four hours 
before noon. In that time we ought to 
find several interesting things." 

It was an open piece of woods 
chiefly of oaks but with a few chest- 
nuts and pine trees scattered about. 
Dick was determined to do his best 
SCARLET TANAGER and had both eyes and ears wide open 
for bird life. He was delighted by finding a nest of the 
Song Sparrow, carefully hidden in a tuft of grass, and 
also one of the Field Sparrow in a clump of weeds ; — both 
of these while we were crossing the field on our way to the 
woods. 

From all parts of the woods came the loudly-chanted song 
of the Oven-bird, often known as the "Teacher-bird" be- 
cause his song sounds like "Teacher-teacher-teacher/ 1 ' re- 
peated from three to ten times. 




From "Land Birds" 



37 



The song that interested the children most was that of 
the Veery, or Wilson Thrush, a musical, descending roll 
with a hollow sound, as Dick said ''It sounds as though he 
was singing through a piece of drain pipe. 

"There, children, listen ! I hear the song I have been ex- 
pecting." 

"What is it, Uncle George? It sounds to me like a very 
hoarse Robin/' said Dick. 

"It does sound something like what you say, Dick, but 
it is the song of the most brightly colored bird found in 
the Northern States." 

"I know! It must be the Scarlet Tanager," exclaimed 
Dorothy." You know, Dick, he is the very brightest of red 
with black wings and tail, — and his mate is so differently 
dressed from him, just plain olive-green." 

"I see him!" exclaimed Dick, "In that pine tree, on the J * 
third branch. There, — he just hopped!" 

"Oh! Isn't he bright. Why, he is even brighter scarlet' 
than the picture in our bird book, Dick." 

"See how happy he is, children? He is probably sin^ 
ing to his mate who may even now be in one of these oak 
perhaps sitting on her nest of twigs and grasses." 








38 



Dick was moving about trying to 
get a better view of the Tanager that 
had just flown to the top of the pine, 
when a scramble among the leaves at 
his feet caused him to look down quick- 
ly, just in time to see a brown and 
white bird run limping away, trailing 
its wings on the ground. 

"Oh ! Uncle George, come here 
quick! Here is a female Towhee and 
I am afraid I have stepped on her ; she 
seems to be hurt." 
From "Land Birds'' "The poor little thing," mourned 

1 OWHEE Dorothy. "How did you happen to do 

it Dick?" 

But Dick did not reply for he was looking at his uncle 
who seemed very pleased about something and could hardly 
restrain his laughter. 

"Let me see you catch the bird, Dick, and we will per- 
haps find out what is the matter with it." 

Dick did not catch the Towhee for, to his great surprise, 
after it had fluttered along in front of him for about ten 
yards it suddenly flew rapidly into the underbrush and dis- 
appeared. 



39 



"Dick, I guess you were well fooled that time. Some 
birds are more clever than you would think. She was lead- 
ing you on a wild-goose chase for a very good reason. I 
think if you go back to the spot she started from and look 
very carefully you will find why." 

Dick and Dorothy started back but before they reached 
the spot two angry and frightened Towhees were flying 
about them; no sign of crippled wings or legs now, but 
quick actions and loud voices. 

The children very quickly found the cause of their ex- 
citement, — four baby Towhees in a nest of fine rootlets, 
sunk in a hollow among the dead leaves under a small 
bush. 

Dick was quite crest-fallen because he had been so easily 
led away by the mother bird so I consoled him by saying: 
"Well, Dick, nearly everyone is fooled by this bird-trick the 
first time it is played upon them ; and, after all, I guess you 
are glad to be shown that a bird can be smart enough to lead 
anyone away from its nest. It is an art that is used by a 
great many kinds of birds, most often to decoy some 
animals, such as foxes, weasels, etc., away from their little 
ones. 

"Notice the calls that both the birds are making 'Cherink, 
cherink'; The birds are very often called Cherinks or 
Chewinks because of these notes. It is from their song 
'Pil-tow-hee' that their most common name is taken." 







40 



It was almost noon. We were sit- 
ting on a cool, shady, mossy bank. The 
ground sloped sharply down to the 
rocky bed of a noisy little brook. 

"I remember a day last summer, 
Dorothy, when I was sitting in just 
such a place as this. The ground was 
covered with the same kind of moss, the 
brook was just as noisy and a stone al- 
most like the one on which you are 
leaning was only a few feet from me. 
It was on one of those beautiful is- 
lands that dot the Maine coast. I had 
been studying a large gull colony 
about which I will tell you later. 

"Well, I was enjoying myself watching the great birds 
soaring lazily overhead when a very sharp 'chip' came from 
a low branch of the hemlock. I looked up and saw a little 
gray and white bird, one of your winter friends, one with a 
pink bill, white outer tail feathers and with a dark gray 
breast showing very sharply against the white below it." 

"I know! It was a Slate-colored Junco," said Dorothy. 
"They stay around the barn nearly all winter; Dick and 




From "Land Birds' 

JUNCO 



41 



I throw out chaff and grain for them. One of them last 
winter became so tame he would eat out of our hands." 

"We had lots and lots of fun with our Juncos," said Dick, 
"but now we want to hear about yours." 

"Well, as I said, I looked up when he chipped and saw 
that he had a fat little worm in his beak. That looked in- 
teresting so I sat very, very still. The little fellow chipped 
a few minutes, watching me very closely, then came a lit- 
tle nearer and nearer, chipping less and less often; I almost 
held my breath and hardly winked for fear of alarming 
him; at last he fluttered down on the top of the stone not 
four feet from me. A chorus of baby bird voices greeted 
him and he at once ho|3ped down under the overhanging end 
of the stone; in a few moments, having satisfied the hun- 
ger of at least one of his children he flew away in search 
of more dainties for the rest. 

"I hurried to the spot and found his snug little home, 
containing three little, bright-eyed birdies, — well protected 
from sun and rain by the rock overhead and almost con- 
cealed from view by a little clump of grass. 

"I hurried back to my place and watched the old birds 
feed them for about an hour; they took turns, one of them 
coming about every five minutes. 



V 




42 

"Well, Dick, I have to go to town 
this morning so you and Dorothy will 
have to take the walk without me; but 
you can tell me this evening what you 
see. 

"I wanted you to go with us down 
to the old mill; we will not go there 
today but wait until tomorrow when 
you can be with us." 

I could tell as soon as I reached the 

house that night that the children had 

not been idle, for the boy's eyes 

twinkled and he could scarcely wait 

From "Land Birds" until we were seated on the porch, af~ 

CHIPPING SPARROW ter supper, before telling me what he 

and his sister had been doing during the day. 

"Oh, Uncle George! We went out in the orchard just af- 
ter you went away and I found a nest of a Chipping Spar- 
row with young birds almost big enough to fly." 

"And I found one, too, with three eggs in it," said Dor- 
othy, adding proudly, "and I climbed the tree too. It was 
such a pretty little nest, — nearly all made of horsehair, with 
only just a few small rootlets on the outside. And the eggs 




were just beautiful, — almost sky-blue with a pretty ring of 
brown and black specks around the large end/' 

"But we had the most fun with my nest/' broke in Dick, 
"for we sat under the tree ever so long and watched the lit- 
tle ones being fed. We took turns using the field glasses 
and tried to see if we could tell what kinds of insects the 
mother and father brought each time. We did not have any 
watch so we could not tell how often they fed the little 
ones, but it seemed as though one of the parents was there 
about all the time. They took turns most of the time, but 
once in a while the two would come at the same time. 

"Nearly every time after the male bird had taken his 
turn at feeding, he would go to the same branch above the 
nest and sing, — a 'chip-chip-chip' — so fast that the 'chips' 
all ran together." 

"We wrote down on this piece of paper, as nearly as we 
could make out, what the little birds were fed most often," 
said Dorothy. "We have: Smooth green caterpillars, five 
times ; hairy caterpillars, eleven times ; grasshoppers or 
crickets, seven times ; moths or millers, seven times ; and 
hard-shelled beetles, six times." 

"That shows, children, how useful these birds are. Just 
think of the number that each bird eats daily multiplied by 
all the birds there are. It amounts to many times more than 
you would believe." 





44 




According to Dick's wish, eight 
o'clock in the morning found us on our 
way to the old mill. It was about half 
a mile away on an old run-down farm. 
The brook had been checked so as to 
form quite a large pond, — 1 a r g e 
enough so that years and years before 
it had furnished water to turn a wheel 
so that the farmer could grind his 
own and his neighbors' corn. 

Most of our way to the old mill was 
through pasture land that produced a 
little grass, quantities of weeds and 
many thistles ; many of the thistles 
were in full bloom while others had gone to seed. 

On the way we, of course, saw many Song, Vesper and 
Field Sparrows, but what interested the children most were 
the numbers of Goldfinches that flew from the thistles 
when we approached too near. Goldfinches are great fav- 
orites with everybody; by country boys and girls they are 
very often known as ''Wild Canaries" 01 "Thistle-birds." 

Their song is very sweet, — not as long, but richer and 
wilder than that of the canary. People used to catch them 



From "Land Birds' 

GOLD FINCH 



45 



and keep them in cages, but they are too pretty and too 
valuable as wild birds to be kept in confinement; the law 
almost everywhere now prohibits catching or keeping them 
or other wild birds caged. 

"I just love to watch Goldfinches go bounding through 
the air/' said Dorothy, "up and down, up and down and 
between each bound singing 'per-chic-o-ree.' " 

"They are just feeding now, on the thistle seeds; they al- 
so eat a great many weed seeds, those of wild or cultivated 
sunflowers and, particularly during their nesting season, a 
great many injurious insects. 

"During the latter part of July or early in August, if 
you look sharply among those alders that I see about the 
edge of the pond, you will probably find some of their nests. 
They are made out of soft, silky plant-fibres and are woven 
into forked branches; they look very much like the nests 
of Redstarts, Yellow Warblers or Least Flycatchers, in 
fact if you should bring me deserted nests of any of these 
birds I could not tell every time which they were unless I 
knew just where you found them. Goldfinches lay four or 
often five very pale blue eggs without spots of any kind. 

"Well, here we are at the old mill! Who will be the first \J^^\ 
to find a nest and what will it be?" 






46 

"There is a bird ! Just flying into 
that elm that hangs its branches out 
over the water. It is a Baltimore 
Oriole/' exclaimed Dick. "There, he 
is calling to his mate now; I like to 
listen to them because their notes are 
so sharp and clear and wild. Their 
song is beautiful too, — they put so 
much force and good will into it." 

"I guess Mrs. Oriole heard him call 
to her, for here she comes/' said Dor- 
othy, as a bird flew over our heads, at 
the same time giving an answering 
call. 

Her mate was not the only bird watching for her coming 
for, from the end of the branch that hung furthest over 
the water, came the loud, whining calls that only young 
orioles can make. 

It was toward this branch that the mother bird flew; we 
could see the branch and nest shaking violently as all the 
little birds tried to reach the rim at the same time. They 
are always very forward youngsters, very noisy and anxious 
to get the lion's share of all food that their parents bring. 
It is a wonder that they do not more often fall from the 




From "Land Birds 

ORIOLE 



47 



nest as they jostle each other and try each to reach fur- 
thest for the coming breakfast. 

We sat down and watched the birds for about an hour. 
It made Dorothy quite provoked because Mrs. Oriole had 
to hunt for nearly all the food. Mr. Oriole helped once in 
a while but most of his time was spent in singing, getting 
insects for himself and in looking pretty; he was a beauti- 
ful bird, the blackest of black and the very brightest of 
ora::ge. As Dorothy remarked, it is no wonder that many 
people call such birds "Golden Robins" or "Fire-birds." 

He was a valiant bird too and allowed no other kind to 
come near his home. While we watched, he had several very 
exciting fights with a Kingbird that often flew out over the 
water after insects. They were about evenly matched in 
skill and strength; the Oriole is one of the few birds that 
can hold its own with the brave kingbird. 

This oriole nest was a very pretty one, — pouch-shaped 
as usual, about eight inches long and suspended from very 
slender twigs so that it swayed back and forth with every 
breath of air. It was strongly woven of tough fibres, hairs 
and string. Because of this pouch-shaped, hanging nest, 
many people know the Oriole as the "Hang Nest." 






48 



Dorothy and Dick had been so in- 
terested watching the Orioles that 
they had paid little attention to other 
birds. They were reminded of this 
when an old male blackbird, with 
bright red and white shoulderstraps, 
spied us sitting on the bank. 

Blackbirds are inquisitive and also 
noisy; the old fellow came over to see 
what we were about and his harsh 
"chucks" of alarm soon brought a 
dozen other members of the colony 
about us. 
"They make as much noise as though 
we were robbing their homes/' said Dick, "so we might as 
well go over and look at them; they cannot scold any 
louder." 

They could, though, for they were joined by their mates 
as we approached the end of the pond where they nested; 
they "chacked" and "chucked" and "chee'd" so loudly that 
Dorothy wanted to go away at once, but Dick was set on 
first finding one of their nests. 

We could see one nest in a bush quite a ways out in the 
water and could tell where there were several more by the 



From "Land Birds 

RED-WINGED 
BLACKBIRD 



49 



way the birds hovered over certain spots. Finally Dick 
found one in a bush on the very edge of the pond. By 
leaning out over the water carefully we could see the four 
dull-blue eggs that were in it; they were curiously scrawled 
and marked with black and brown, looking, as Dorothy 
said "as if a fly has stepped in the ink bottle and then walk- 
ed over them. The nest was quite large, — made of coarse 
grasses woven together to form a basket with a deep cup- 
shaped center. 

"Red-winged Blackbirds do not always build in bushes 
like these, Dick; near my home is a marshy meadow, al- 
ways partly covered with water when the blackbirds build 
their nests, but it dries up by the time their little ones ap- 
pear so that I can walk across and find their nests in almost 
every large clump of grass." 

As we started away from the pond, the blackbirds, one 
by one, stopped their scolding; by the time we were a hun- 
dred yards distant, they were all quiet. 

Just before we got out of hearing, one of them, perhaps 
the old fellow that first noticed us, perched on the bush 
above his nest and sang the blackbird song, resembling the 
syllables "quong-ka-ree." Perhaps it was his way of saying 
good bye to us. 





50 



We crossed the fields and were near- 
ly to the house when Dick said to his 
sister: — "Come on, Dorothy! Let us 
look at the Chipping Sparrow nests we 
found yesterday." 

They were off with a rush-, racing 
to see who would reach the orchard 
first. Dick arrived at the tree first 
with Dorothy right at his heels. Up 
both went as nimbly as squirrels, and 
soon were looking into the nest Dor- 
othy had found. 

"Uncle George ! Come here quick ! 
There are five eggs now ! There were 



From "Land Birds" 

COWBIRD 

only three yesterday; and one of them is bigger and white, 
with little brown spots all over it." These and other ex- 
clamations came rapidly from the two excited children. 

"I am sure the large egg is that of a Cowbird," said Dick. 
I climbed up beside them and sure enough, the little Chip- 
ping Sparrow had laid her fourth egg and a Cowbird had 
added hers to make five. The nest was small and was al- 
most full of eggs. That of the Cowbird was quite warm 
while the other four were cold, showing that the large one 
had been very recently laid. 



51 



"Well,, Dick. I guess we had better remove the egg of the 
Cowbird. As it has just been laid, I do not think the little 
sparrow will leave the nest if we take it out, and surely if 
we let it hatch with hers, the nest will be so crowded that 
her own little ones will be killed. 

"The Cowbird is the only bird we have in this country 
that always lays its eggs in other birds' nests, leaving its 
children for them to care for. Their eggs are nearly always 
laid in the nests of smaller birds and since the young Cow- 
bird is so much bigger and stronger than its foster brothers 
and sisters, the latter are very often forced out of the nest 
or starved because he is so greedy. 

"Cowbirds are often known as "Lazy Birds" because 
they build no nest of their own; young Cowbirds are lazy, 
too, for they follow their little foster mothers about and 
make them feed them long after their own children are able 
to care for themselves. It is a very queer sight to see a 
large young bird following a small adult one about, flutter- 
ing its wings and asking to be fed. 

If it were not for this very habit of thrusting its young 
on other birds, Cowbirds would be good birds, for they eat 
a great many of very destructive insects. " 





52 



Leaving this nest, which Dorothy 
proudly claimed as hers, we went 
to the other end of the orchard 
to see what had become of the little 
birds that were in the one that Dick 
found. Xot a sign of them could be 
found; they had left their home early 
in the morning and were probably 
safely hidden among the leaves in 
some of the other trees, being careful- 
ly tended by their parents until they 
could fly about and look out for them- 
selves. 

Although Dick's sparrows had dis- 
appeared, he found something else that pleased him even 
more than the finding of their nest. It was the beginning 
of the nest of a Kingbird. We had seen and heard this 
noisy fellow about the orchard every day but had not been 
able to locate his nest, for the very good reason, as we now 
knew, that it had not been built. 

Just then we saw a relative of the Kingbird, — one that 
interested Dorothy very much because, as she said, "he has 
such a sad and plaintive voice." It was a Wood Pewee. 
We soon found that he had five regular lookout perches 




From "Land Birds 

WOOD PEWEE 



53 



and that he would return to one or another of these after 
each air voyage. 

He would dash quickly out, snap up the gnat, mosquito, 
moth or whatever insect happened to be passing, and having 
returned to one of his favorite perches, throw back his 
head and whistle in a very high pitch "pee-a-wee," — a 
song rather sweet, restful and also, as Dorothy said, sad. 
sometimes after a short pause, he would add to this song two 
more notes, usually described as "pe-eer." 

"Where do you suppose his nest is, Uncle George?" 
asked Dick. 

"It may possibly be in some of theee apple trees, but 1 
think it more likely to be in those oaks on the edge of the 
woods. Probably Mrs. Pewee is sitting on the nest while he 
is hunting in this orchard. 

"They make one of the prettiest of bird nests, — of wool- 
ly fibres covered on the outside with bits of lichens or moss 
such as grows on the branches of many trees. This nest is 
always placed on a horizontal limb, usually quite a large 
one, and looks just like a little tuft of moss growing on the 
top of it. It looks so much like the tree that their nests are 
quite difficult to find. 

"Pewee eggs, too, are very beautiful, — a rich, creamy 
white with a wreath of quite large brown spots about the 
large end. ,, 





54 



Dorothy and Dick spent a great 
deal of their spare time during the 
next month in watching the progress 
of the Kingbird family. 

They watched the building of the 
nest until it was completed on the 
third day from the time it was start- 
ed. With the field glasses they saw 
them weave together the gray fibres 
made most of it and even hung up 
pieces of string on the branches and 
watched the birds get and work them 
into the outside of the nest. 

Because they saw the children so 
often, the birds paid little attention to them. They would 
go about their work of building and, later, of caring for 
their little ones while Dorothy and Dick were sitting on the 
ground right under them. Usually if one goes near the 
home of a Kingbird, the birds are very, very noisy and even 
try to drive you away. I have several times seen them strike 
a boy on the head as he was climbing to their nest. 



From "Land Birds' 

KINGBIRD 



55 



These birds, though so quiet when the children were 
about, would allow no one else to approach without making 
the usual fuss about it. 

Although both the birds were very much alike in plu- 
mage, the children could tell them apart for the made had 
lost one wing feather in some one of his many battles with 
other birds that came too near his nest. He was very proud 
of the handsome brown-specked eggs the nest contained 
and often hovered in the air over them to see that they 
were all right, but he never took his turn at sitting on them. 

When his little ones appeared, he was fiercer than ever 
and became quite savage in his attack upon other birds. 
He was very expert at catching insects and fed the little 
Kingbirds more often than his mate did. He brought, 
among other things, many locusts, moths dragon flies and 
even bees; most of these were swallowed by the little birds 
whole, but sometimes the parents would pull the wings off 
first. 

The Kingbird is a bully but he is very brave too; he rare- '/f//i 
ly attacks a bird smaller than himself and no hawk or eagle 
is too large for him to drive away. On this account, as well 
as for their destruction of insects, they are valuable birds // 
to have about the farm for they let no bird of prey come /J 
near if they can prevent it. 



/^ 




56 




From now on Uncle George was un- 
able to give as much of his time to 
out of door walks with the children. 
Dick and Dorothy, however, spent 
nearly all of every morning or after- 
noon watching their old friends and 
trying to find new ones. Every even- 
ing they told Uncle George about what 
they had seen and listened to his stor- 
ies about birds he had seen in different 
places. 

"We found some Blue Jays today, 
Uncle George/' said Dick. "We did 
not see the nest but saw one of the 
old jays feed one of the little ones." 

"Then we hunted/' added Dorothy, "until we found three 
others. They could fly just a little but we managed to 
catch all of them. The jays did not like it a bit when we 
caught their children; they scolded and screamed and whis- 
tled. The little ones were not afraid of us at all. We 
played with them a few minutes and then put all four in a 
row on a branch. 

"As soon as we went away a short distance, the mother 
jay came back and fed them. Blue Jays are beautiful 
birds, are they not, Uncle George?" 



From "Land Birds 

BLUE JAY 



57 



"They are beautiful birds^ Dorothy, and it is a pity they 
are not as good as they are handsome. They are very mis- 
chievous and often cruel, for they like to eat eggs of other 
birds and sometimes kill their little ones too." 

"Oh, aren't they wicked? I never would have supposed 
such things of such pretty birds." 

"You see. Dorothy, it is rather a family habit. All 
members of the crow family,, to which jays belongs have 
these same destructive customs. 

"Jays make very interesting pets,, but they have to be 
continually watched for they are always getting into mis- 
chief. One that I kept for several years would steal every- 
thing that he could carry away. He had a great liking for 
pennies and would always catch them in his beak when they 
were thrown to him. We had a box,, on the wall, with a hole 
in the top and he would carry pennies or other small things 
and drop them into this box. 

"He liked to fly quickly by anyone's face and really, 
from the twinkling of his eyes, seemed to laugh when they 
jumped as his wings hit their face. He liked bright col- 
ors and always inspected the flowers on lady visitors' hats, 
often to their alarm. Your little cousins had a great deal 
cf fun with him." 





58 



"Now Uncle/' said Dick, "tell us 
about the Downy Woodpecker and 
the woodland apartment house. Dor- 
othy has never heard you tell it." 

"All rights Dick. I will not have 
time to tell all the interesting things 
that happened while I was visiting 
this apartment house, but I will tell 
those that deal with the Downy 
Woodpecker, — one of the chief char- 
acters in the woodland sketch. 

"I was pushing my way through 
some thick brushy just coming to a 
clearings when I heard the beautiful 
song of a House Wren, — just such a song as our wren sang 
the other day down by the wall. This song was unusual be- 
cause the bird would stop singing very suddenly right in 
the middle of his song. He kept singing and stopping and 
as soon as I came to the edge of the woods I saw the rea- 
son for it. 

"He was perched on the end of a branch on an old dead 
apple tree and had just commenced his song, when a black 
and white bird; — the Woodpecker, — dashed at him. The 



irds" 



From "Land 

DOWNY 
WOODPECKER 



59 



wren changed his position,, started his song again and the 
same thing happened. 

"I soon found that 'Downy' had his nest in a hole about 
half way up the trunk of the tree. He was afraid that the 
loud music of the wren would attract somebody or something 
to the spot and that they would discover his home. Looking 
a little closer I found that Mrs. Downy^ who had just flown 
out of the nestj had been covering five glossy white eggs; 
and I also found that Mrs. Wren was sitting upon seven 
creamy, brown-specked ones in the hollow end of a limb 
not three feet below the nest of the woodpecker. 

"The wren was singing because he was so very happy 
about his home; the woodpecker was trying to stop him be- 
cause he feared someone would find his. 

"These were the two middle flats of the apartment house; 
the ground floor w T as occupied by a Chipmunk, that lived un- 
der the roots of the tree; the upper floor was used by a 
small colony of "yellow- j acket' bees that had bored into the 
soft wood a little above Downy's nest. Downy brought all 
kinds of insects to his little ones when they appeared. Sev- 
eral times I saw him catch and feed them some of the bees 
that lived just above him,, but more often he brought differ- 
ent kinds of wood borers. I had lots of fun watching these 
two bird families and happened to be there on the days 
when each of them had their little ones leave their nests." 





60 



"Oil, Uncle George/' exclaimed 
Dick, "there have been two tiny hum- 
mingbirds about the flower garden 
nearly all day. The male is 'Ruby- 
throat' and Dorothy has named his 
mate 'Emerald-back/ 

"We have had ever so much fun 
watching them; they visit most all the 
flowers but I think they liked the pe- 
tunias the best. 

"We sat on the grass in front of the 
flower bed and sometimes they would 
come within two feet of us. They look 

so queer when they have their heads 
and bills inside the flowers; their wings move so fast you 
cannot see them at all, — just a sort of blur." 

"They kept going from the flowers to the orchard/' said 
Dorothy, "and Dick is sure they must have a nest there 
somewhere, but we could not find it." 

"Probably it is in the orchard, Dorothy, but more often 
they build their nests in trees in the woods. I have found 
them in vines not more than five feet from the ground and 
at most all distances up to sixty feet above the ground in a 




From "Land Birds' 

HUMMINGBIRD 



61 



large pine. The nests are very difficult to find unless you 
chance to see the bird building or going to it. 

"It usually takes four or five days for them to finish a 
nest. The body of it is built almost wholly of the soft 
woolly substance you often find on the stems of ferns; bit 
by bit this is carried and placed on the top of a branchy 
where it is worked and molded into the proper shape. Then 
the most interesting part comes, — that of decorating the 
outside. The birds buzz up and down the sides of trees se- 
lecting suitable bits of moss ; these they put on the sides of 
the nest, the natural stickiness of the wool, perhaps aided a 
little by the bird's saliva, causing them to be firmly held. 
The completed nest perfectly resembles a little knob of 
moss growing on the upper side of the limb. Their two lit- 
tle white eggs are just the size and shape of little white 
beans. 

"Hummingbirds eat not only the sweets of flowers, but a 
great many tiny gnats and little spiders. Although the 
birds are so very tiny, they are so quick and fearless that 
they drive all other birds away from their homes. 

"When angry, they will dash straight at a person and, 
although they never hit you, you always dodge for fear that ■£ 
they will." 






62 



Our talk that evening changed very 
quickly from the hummingbird to an- 
other as a harsh, rasping 'peenk' 
sounded from somewhere overhead; 
it was followed by answering notes 
from other directions. 

"Oh! The first Nighthawks we have 
seen this season/' exclaimed Dick. 

"If you and Dorothy lived in the 

city you would see plenty of them 

for a great many are flying over 

the houses every evening. They like 

From "Land Birds" there better than in the country be- 

NIGHTHAWK cause there are more insects flying 

about and the gravel roofs of many of the buildings make 

fine places for them to nest on." 

"Do you mean to say that they nest on top of the roofs, 
Uncle George?" asked Dick. 

"Yes, they make no nest but they do lay their two eggs 
right among the pebbles on the roofs. And the eggs are 
mottled with gray so that it is hard to tell them from the 
pebbles without looking very sharply." 

"Well, I guess Xighthawks and English Sparrows are 
about the only birds city children see more often than we 
do," said Dorothy. 



63 



"You are right; for instance few of them ever heard or 
saw that bird so like the Nighthawk, — the Whip-poor-will, 
while you can hear them every night." 

There, one of the Nighthawks is swooping now V ex- 
claimed Dick; "Just see him go down, there, — he has turn- 
ed upward again; what makes that booming sound, Uncle 
George?" 

"That is caused by the air rushing from under their 
wings as they turn them to check their downward course. 
Some folks think they make those rapid swoops just in play, 
while others think they see swarms of insects below them 
and are dashing down to secure as many as possible. Cer- 
tainly they do get a very many insects as they go coursing 
through the air. 

"While the Nighthawk bill is very small, his mouth opens 
very, very wide so that by opening it as he goes through 
a swarm of mosquitoes^ winged ants or other insects, he 
scoops up great quantities of them. 

"Nighthawks are one of our very best kind of birds; 
they do no damage at all and our only complaint can be that 
ihere are not more of them. 

"The Nighthawks that you see here, like those that just 
passed over, lay their eggs on pebbly places or on flat 
stones in pastures." 




%, 





64 



"I will not have to go to the city 
until afternoon, so we can spend this 
morning together." This was the de- 
lightful news that their uncle told the 
children one morning at breakfast. 
"Oh, good!" exclaimed Dick. 
"We can go down to the mill pond 
again. It has been nearly three weeks 
since we were there and I suppose 
that most of the blackbirds have fin- 
ished with their nesting, but we can 
surely find something else." 

To the children's surprise and de- 
light we found that the blackbirds 
were still there and we found several more of their nests, 
some with eggs and some with young birds, but we found 
something else that was of even more interest to them. 

Dick first noticed the gray and white bird hovering, with 
rapidly beating wings, over the pond as though he were 
about to dive into the water ; instead, however, he flew across 
the pond making a harsh rattling sound, as he went, that 
announced him to be a Kingfisher. 

He perched on a beam that projected from the old mill 
out over the water and waited patiently for a fish to come 



KINGFISHER 



65 



near the surface; we waited just as patiently to see what lie 
would do. 

"I think he sees a fish now/' said Dick, who had the field 
glasses. "Yes. there he goes !" 

Straight down, like an arrow he went and disappeared 
beneath the surface; in an instant he emerged, shook the 
water from his feathers and we could see that he carried a 
fair sized fish in his large beak. Instead of going to his 
perch and swallowing his prey as usual, he gave a half- 
smothered rattle and started off across the field. 

"It looks as though, this time, he was fishing for some 
little kingfishers instead of for himself, doesn't it children? 
Well; he is a good fisherman and has better success than 
most boys or men." 

"Somewhere, not very far away, in the direction in which 
our Kingfisher friend just flew, is a sand bank. At the 
end of a tunnel in this bank are half a dozen of his chil- 
dren eagerly waiting for him. 

"li you could see the Kingfisher's feet you would find 
that his toes have partly grown together, making little 
scoops that aid him very much in digging the tunnel for his 
nest. This tunnel is usually about two feet long; it is 
larger at the inner end, making a little room on the floor of 
which are laid the pure white eggs." 





66 



Almost before the Kingfisher we had 
been watching had disappeared from 
sight, the attention of the children was 
drawn to some strange sounds coming 
from a tangled thicket bordering the 
pond and only a short ways from us, 
— low, deep croaks sounding like the 
syllables 'kow-kow-kow' repeated 
slowly many times followed by a dou- 
ble note like 'kow-uh, kow-uh.' 
After thinking a few moments, 
Dick correctly guessed that it must 
be a Black-billed Cuckoo. 

We carefully made our way to the 
thicket and found the Cuckoo perched in a stunted apple 
tree right beside a tent caterpillar nest. Between songs he 
was eating his fill of these hairy insects. 

During the fifteen minutes that we stood watching him, 
he gave his croaking song four times, ate twenty-five cat- 
erpillars and twice flew to the farther end of the thicket, 
each time carrying a caterpillar in his mouth. 

We concluded that he must have a nest there and so we very 
quietly walked around the thicket to see if we could find it. 



From ''Land Birds 

BLACK-BILLED 
CUCKOO 



67 



Suddenly Dick whispered: "There it is !" And sure enough, 
his sharp eyes had found it, and Mrs. Cuckoo was sitting 
upon the nest, apparently not yet having seen us. 

We had watched her but a few moments when Mr. Cuckoo 
slipped quickly through the brush and glided to a branch 
just over her head. She greeted him with a short croak 
and greedily seized the caterpillar that he had brought. 

This courtesy on the part of the Cuckoo to his mate is 
not unusual, but it seems strange when one knows them 
well, for, as a rule, they appear to have no great affection 
for their families ; at least they do not show it as other birds 
do. 

She left the nest soon after and the children looked it 
over carefully; it was very poorly made of twigs and lined 
with "catkins," — almost flat on top so that there was dan- 
ger of the eggs rolling off if the nest was disturbed. The 
three eggs were of a dull blue shade, just about the color of 
those of Robins. 

"The Cuckoo that they have in Europe, Dick, never 
builds a nest of its own, but lays its eggs in nests of other 
birds the same as our Cowbird does. I am very glad that 
our bird has better manners than its foreign cousin and 
looks out for its own children. 










68 



"What birds shall we talk about 
tonight?" Uncle George asked as he 
and the children sat on the veranda 
one evening. 

"Tell us about owls." said Dick. 
"Jimmie said there was a 'Hoot Owl' 
in the woods back of his house last 
night." 

"There are a great many kinds of 
owls and I am afraid it would take me 
a very long time to tell about all of 
them, so we will talk about a few that 
live right around here. 

"Let us first take the name, 'Hool 
Owl' ; it is not at all certain what owl anyone means when 
they speak of it as a hoot owl for the name is used for 
about all kinds. 

"The little Screech Owl has a very pretty trill, yet I have 
often heard it called a hoot owl; it is more often known, 
though, as the 'Cat Owl' because of its ear tufts. Both the 
Barred Owl and the Great Horned Owl really hoot, — a ser- 
ies of dismal, hollow sounds, like 'Hoo, hoo, hoo-o-o.' The 
Barred Owl is the most common of the large owls. All of 



From "Water Birds 

BARRED OWL 



69 



them, large or small, catch birds sometimes but they live 
chiefly upon mice, moles, rabbits, squirrels, etc. 

"All small creatures, like mice, owls swallow whole, — fur, 
bones and all; later these parts that are not good to eat are 
thrown up in the form of round pellets. Owl nests may of- 
ten be found by seeing these 'fur and bone' pellets on the 
ground. 

"The Screech Owl always nests in holes in trees, most 
often in apple trees, and the Barred Owl does when she 
can find a suitable hollow tree. If such places happen to be 
scarce she will lay her three or four round white eggs in 
an old crow nest. 

"Many people think owls cannot see well in daylight. 
They are mistaken, for nearly all the owls can see as well 
as most other birds in bright light. As they do most of 
their hunting at night, they try to find quiet places and 
sleep during daytime. 

"Crows do not like owls and frequently we can tell by 
their actions where an owl is sleeping; they gather about 
him, caw and dash at him until he is forced to fly to some 
other place. 

"No birds can fly easier or with less noise than owls; 
their feathers are very soft, light and broad and make no 
sound whatever as their wings beat the air in flight. 






70 




"On my way to the city this morn- 
ing, Dick, I saw one of the birds you 
liked so well to watch at the seashore 
last summer/' 

"Was it a Fish Hawk, Uncle 
George?" 

"Yes, Dick, it was a Fish Hawk or 
Osprey. He was flying up the river 
and kept opposite the train for a short 
while, but our speed was too much for 
him and he was left behind. " 

"It is such fun to see them catch 
fish. I wish we were at the shore now/' 
said Dorothy, "but anyway we will 
be in about two weeks from now. Then Dick and I will 
have great sport watching the gulls and terns and Fish 
Hawks." 

"I have read of eagles robbing Fish Hawks of the fish 
they catch/' said Dick. "Did you ever see them do so, 
Uncle George?" 

"Yes, Dick, I have, — a number of times. On the coast of 
Virginia at Lynn Haven Inlet, Bald Eagles were very 
abundant. I counted sixteen of them one morning all in 
sight at the same time. Most of them kept near the water, 
picking up fish that washed ashore or catching them in the 



from Water Birds 



OSPREY 



71 



weirs or fishermen's nets that were set close to shore. 

"I found an Osprey nest about two hundred yards back 
from the beach. It had young in it and I sat a short dis- 
tance away for one whole morning watching them and the 
eagles. 

"The Osprey s caught most of their fish from inside the 
nets; of course this w^as very easy fishing as there were lots 
of fish there and they could not escape. Sometimes they 
would hover over the net and plunge under water in their 
usual manner and again they would simply fly close to the 
water and reach down and grasp a fish in their powerful 
feet and talons. 

"Twice during that morning I saw an eagle start in pur- 
suit of one of the Ospreys as he was bringing a fish to his 
nest. Uttering shrill, piercing whistles, the Osprey tried to 
escape; up and up he went in short circles with the eagle 
following just below. The Osprey dropped his fish when 
about a quarter of a mile above the water and the eagle 
caught it as it passed him. In the second pursuit both birds 
went so high that I could barely see them with the field 
glasses, but the eagle came down with the fish and the 
Osprey had to go out to the weirs for another one. 

"As fish were so plenty and so easily caught it must be, 
in these cases, that the eagle took them away from the 
Osprey just to prove that he was the master. 



JL 





72 



"Another kind of hawk, the smallest 
that we have in this country, was very 
common along the coast at Lynn 
Haven. 

"Do you remember the little Spar- 
row Hawk that flew overhead one 
morning just as we were starting on 
one of our walks ? Well, the sand had 
blown in and half covered and killed 
most of the trees along the beach. 
Many of these trees were decayed and 
had holes in them. 

"These made fine homes for Spar- 
row hawks ; at almost any time I could 
see one or more of them flying about, always with the same 
rapid beats of the wings and short sails, just as the one we 
saw the other day flew. While I was watching the Ospreys 
and eagles, I had plenty of time, too, to keep one eye on the 
doings of these little hawks. 

"I saw several of them suddenly dash down to the ground 
and capture grasshoppers; once one of them caught one of 
the insects in the air. 

"Several times, too, I saw Sparrow Hawks catch some of 



SPARROW HAWK 



73 



the very lively and numerous lizards that were sunning 
themselves on the hot sand. 

"Numbers of sand crabs were running about among the 
sand dunes and, although they are very difficult to catch, 
they could not escape the speedy little hawks, — at least 
not all the time for twice I saw one of the little fellows 
bear a crab off in his little claws. 

"Wherever field mice or moles are to be found, Sparrow 
Hawks feed upon them rather than upon anything else; 
so, by destroying these little mammals and grasshoppers, 
these hawks may be counted as among our most valuable 
birds. 

"You can see from the picture in your bird book that 
there is a great difference in plumage between Mr. and 
Mrs. Sparrow Hawk; the males and females of most hawks 
are very similar in plumage. The Sparrow Hawk also has 
a very different call or song from that of any other hawk; 
it is a very rapidly whistled 'kil-ly, kil-ly, kil-ly,' while 
most hawks have but a single piercing whistle or scream. 

"It not only differs from other hawks in its small size, 
bright plumage and peculiar song, but also in its nesting as 
it is the only American hawk that always nests in holes in 
trees. They lay four or five cream-colored eggs, covered all 
over with fine dots of brown." 




74 




"I am quite sure, Uncle George, 
that I saw two Mourning Doves to- 
day/' said Dick one evening. "They 
flew from the ground under the old 
oak in the pasture; I could see the 
white outer feathers and the pointed 
Jlj tails as they flew away but I was not 
close enough and they went too fast 
for me to see the black spots on the 
sides of the head so as to make sure 
they were the doves." 

"They probably were Mourning 
From "Water Birds" Doves, Dick. These birds, though, 
MOURNING DOVE are quite rare in Massachusetts, but 
are common in the Southern and Central States. 

"Although they are much smaller and quite different in 
plumage, they are very frequently mistaken for the very 
rare and perhaps extinct Passenger Pigeons. 

"As you saw, today, their flight is very rapid and usual- 
ly erratic, that is not in a straight line. Probably, as 
they were some distance from you, you did not hear the 
noise of their wings; when several fly by you, you can hear 
quite a loud humming or whistling noise made by their 
wings beating the air. 



75 



"I have been able to examine a great many nests of 
Mourning Doves and they all prove that these birds are per- 
haps the most shiftless house builders of any wild bird that 
pretends to build any nest at all. The nests are made of 
twigs, not woven or laced together, but simply laid one on 
another; and so few twigs are used that you can easily see 
the eggs through the bottom. Sometimes they are so lazy 
they even lay their two white eggs on the ground, with no 
nest at all. I have also found their eggs almost balanced on 
the top of a fallen tree trunk, in places where a slight jar 
would cause them to roll off. 

"The little birds remain in the nest longer than most 
other young birds, — about three weeks; they are first cover- 
ed with white down, then by stiff pinf eathers that make 
them look like little hedgehogs ; when they first fly, they are 
fully feathered but their clothes are different from their 
parents as each feather has an edge of white, giving the 
birds a scaled appearance. 

"The song of the Mourning Dove is a sad, plaintive coo- 
ing, rather disagreeable when heard continually, but not 
objectionable when it is heard in company with many other 
wild bird songs." 




76 



"Did you ever see a Partridge nest, 
Uncle George?" asked Dick. 

"Yes, I have found a great many 
nests of the Ruffed Grouse or Par- 
tridge^ as you called it." 

"Jimmie says his father found one 
in the woods yesterday; it has four- 
teen eggs in it. The Partridge acted 
just as the Towhee did when we found 
her nest; she ran away limping, trail- 
ing one wing on the ground and whin- 
ing just as though she was badly 
wounded." 

"I think, Dick, that no other bird is 
as clever as the grouse when it comes to leading enemies 
away from its nest; but they do not always run away mak- 
ing believe they are lame, for if they think there is a chance 
that a person or an animal may not see them on the nest, they 
will sit perfectly still until almost stepped upon, trusting to 
the similarity between their plumage and the surrounding 
dead leaves to escape being seen." 

"Mother Grouse does not run away because she is afraid 
but simply to draw your attention away from her home; 
she is a very brave bird when necessary. 




From "Water Birds' 

RUFFED GROUSE 



"Little grouse are downy just like little chickens, in fact 
they look like little Brown-leghorns ; they follow their moth- 
er about and can run quite fast as soon as they leave the 
egg shell. 

"If you come across Mother Grouse and her family of 
little ones, she gives them a warning note at which they 
scamper in different directions and hide under leaves or 
sticks. If you fail to follow the mother as she limps away, 
but try to catch some of the little chicks, she will come back, 
squealing and all bristled up; she may even pick at your 
hands. She keeps giving her little note of warning and 
not one of her children will leave his hiding place unless 
you actually find him. If you go away a short distance and 
hide, after Mother Grouse has satisfied herself that danger 
is gone she will give a little whistle and every little chick 
will appear as if by magic. 

"You may have heard the loud rumble caused by a grouse 
as it leaves the ground in flight. This noise is probably 
made purposely to bewilder one, for the birds can leave the 
ground silently if they wish. The noise is quite similar to 
the drumming produced, in spring, by the male rapidly beat- 
ing his wings forward and toward his breast. This drum- 
ming is the love song of the grouse and is the only song 
that thev have. 





78 



"I think I like the Bob- White or 
Quail better than the Grouse/' said 
Dorothy. We used to hear them 
whistling every morning last summer,, 
but we have not heard any this year. 
Where do you suppose they have gone, 
Uncle George?" 

"The Quail in New England, Dor- 
othy, have a very hard time. Their 
worst enemy is the weather. You see 
that in winter they go in flocks and 
they have the habit of diving or bur- 
rowing into soft snow and passing the 
night under it; the snow may change 
to rain or the surface may melt and then freeze into a 
solid crust. Often whole flocks are caught under it and 
die because they are unable to get out. Rains, when the lit- 
tle birds are but a few days old, also destroy a great many 
of them. 

"Foxes and weasels are always on the lookout for quail 
or any other birds. Men were allowed to shoot quail for 
sport at certain seasons. The result of all these dangers 
that await Bob- White at nearly every turn is that we find 
very few of them left in New England now. They are still 



From "Water Birds" 

BOB-WHITE 



79 



abundant in the Southern States and in the Mississippi Val- 
ley. Many attempts have been made to bring birds from 
these places to re-stock our covers,, but the birds,, being used 
to a milder climate,, soon pass away. 

"The farmer who can not boast of a few pair of quail 
on his farm is very fortunate. They eat a great many 
beetles that are very injurious to the crops. Quail are 
birds of the field; while grouse are birds of the woodland. 
It is much easier for a hunter to kill the slower flying quail 
in the open than it is grouse that start from the ground in 
brushy with a rush; and quickly dodge behind the first tree 
they come to. Quail need all the protection we can give 
them; many farmers feed them grain during the winter,, — 
a kindness that saves the lives of many of the birds. 

"Bob-Whites make their nests usually in tall grass along 
walls ^ fences or the edges of woods. The grass is arched 
over so they have a little tunnel through which to enter. 
Mr. Bob-White is more gallant than most birds for he of- 
ten assists his mate in incubating the eight to sixteen pure 
white eggs that she lays. The little quail are like little 
grouse or tiny chicks ; they are very spry and hide instantly 
at a warning cluck from their mother when danger comes,, 
just as little grouse do." 




80 






' 'As I was coming home tonight, 
children, I saw some sandpipers run- 
ning along the shore of the river. As 
we have not yet talked about any of the 
sandpiper family, I thought I would 
tell a little about them this evening." 
"Oh, good!" exclaimed Dorothy. 
"We sometimes see sandpipers down 
at the pond, and they look so funny 
bobbing up and down." 

"Bobbing up and down or 'teeter- 
ing' is a habit of all the sandpipers, 
Dorothy, but the S]3otted Sandpiper 
does it more than the others and that 
is probably the kind you have seen at the pond. 

"The Spotted Sandpiper is the most common kind in most 
of the United Sates during the summer months; at this sea- 
son, the breasts of both male and female birds are spotted 
with brownish-black, but in winter neither the adults nor the 
young birds have any spots. 

"The flight of Spotted Sandpipers is peculiar and you 
can easily distinguish them by it; the wings are raised but 
little, if any, above the back and are brought well under 



From "Water Birds 

SPOTTED 
SANDPIPER 



81 



them at each stroke. They also fly in straight lines or gentle 
curves, while most other small sandpipers fly in a zig-zag 
course, continually twisting so as to show first the back, then 
the breast. This last method of flight is a great protection 
to the birds ; it is a case of now you see me/ as the dark 
upper part of the bird comes against the sky, and now you 
do not' as his white underparts are exposed. 

"All the sandpipers are valuable birds; all of them eat 
insects and the Spotted Sandpiper lives almost wholly on 
little w T ater insects and those it gets from the fields. 

"Just as the quail, grouse and most of the ground birds 
decoy enemies away from their nest by making believe 
wounded, so do the sandpipers. The Spotted Sandpiper is 
very expert at doing this ; she remains on the nest until al- 
most stepped upon and then runs off so suddenly and so 
very plainly wounded that it is but natural to follow her. 

"Their nests may be in grass or weeds close to the edges 
of ponds or rivers or it may be on the edges of fields at 
quite a distance from the water. The nest is just a little 
hollow in the ground. The four eggs are a brownish-buff 
color with sharp black spots. The little sandpipers are born 
covered with soft gray and white down and are prettily 
marked with faint stripes on the back." 






82 



"The Woodcock is another, but very 
different bird, that belongs to the 
sandj3iper and snipe family. Turn to 
his picture in your Bird Guide and 
you will see how different he is from 
the Spotted Sandpiper." 

"Oh !" exclaimed Dorothy. "Isn't 
he a funny bird, — just the color of 
dead leaves. Why are his eyes so big 
and so near the top of his head? And 
why is his bill so long?" 

"His eyes are large, Dorothy, be- 
cause he does most of his feeding 
after dark, and they are near the top 

of his head so that, while he is feeding, he can more readi- 
ly keep watch for danger. 

"His bill is long so that he can reach down into the mud 
and find worms; the tip of it is very sensitive and he can 
open it so as to grasp a worm when he feels one. His col- 
ors are, as you said, dead leaf color; they match perfect- 
ly with the ground on which he feeds so that it is very hard 
to see him. 

Alder swamps along the muddy edges of brooks are the 
places to find Woodcock. They build their nests among 
the leaves, usually under the shelter of ferns, weeds or low 



Birds" 



WOODCOCK 



83 



bushes^ along the edges of such swamps. Or rather^ they 
lay their eggs in such places for they really make no nest 
but lay the four buff,, pale-spotted eggs directly on the 
leaves. The eggs of all birds of the sandpiper family are 
rounded at one end and pointed at the other ; they are 
always laid so that the points come together in the middle 
of the nest. 

"The Woodcock knows that his colors make it difficult 
to see him so he does not fly until he is sure that he will be 
seen. His flight is very swift and in a zig-zag manner so that 
fortunately it is difficult for most hunters to shoot them. 
The three outer wing feathers are very narrow and quite 
stiff; they make a whistling sound as the bird starts his 
swift flight from the ground. 

"The male Woodcock often struts the same as a turkey 
gobbler or a Ruffed Grouse does^ — with head thrown back 
and tail spread wide in the shape of a fan and bent for- 
wards over the back so as to nearly touch the head. During 
the nesting season they are not at all timid for they often 
allow a person to stroke them on the back^ without leaving 
their nests. I have even lifted one up so as to see the eggs 
and placed her back on them without apparently frightening 
her. If the eggs are handled^ though,, they are very apt to 
leave the nest." 




84 



I 



"We have something for you to 

- : guess tonight, Uncle George." 

"Well. I will try my best, children. 

1 what have you seen today?" 

"We saw a great big bird/' said 

|f|j Dick, "the biggest one you ever saw, 

* " or that is, it was the biggest one we 

_J ever saw, wasn't it Dorothy?" 

"Well, Dick, let us see ! The heav- 

s iest wild bird I have seen is probablv 
■III L 

HI the Swan, and the tallest is probably 

■111] the Whooping Crane. I am sure you 
From "Water Birds" could not have seen either of these. I 
GREAT BLUE HERON will guess that it was a Great Blue 
Heron. Am I right?" 

"That is what is was, Uncle. He flew almost over the 
house. I think he was going down to the mill pond. Dor- 
othy and I watched him as long as he was in sight. He 
looked grand as he sailed overhead with his great broad 
wings slowly flapping, his neck doubled so his head almost 
rested on his shoulders and his long legs trailing behind." 

"A flying Great Blue Heron, almost floating across the 
sky, is a beautiful sight, Dick. All herons fly just as this 




85 



one did, but all cranes fly with the neck stretched out at full 
length in front of them. Of course we do not find any of 
the cranes in Xew England, but in the Mississippi Valley 
and in the South, where they are found, they can easily be 
distinguished from herons, even at a distance when flying. 

"The Blue Heron makes a beautiful picture, too, when 
he is standing in shallow water fishing, — the clear water 
making another bird of him, the reflection of course being 
upside down. In his large, pointed beak, he has a weapon 
for catching fish or frogs better than the best hook that 
man can make. He stands perfectly motionless in the water 
until his prey gets near enough; then his head darts down as 
though his neck were a coiled spring and the unfortunate 
creature is either killed by the fierce stab or else seized be- 
tween the open mandibles. In either case it is quickly swal- 
lowed head first. 

"Herons also kill and eat meadow mice and moles, the 
good they do in this respect more than balancing the harm 
they do in killing fish. They do some damage when they 
fish in trout ponds and I have seen from one to six at a 
time standing in fishermen's seins spearing fish that were 
trapped ; of course in this last case they only took small ' 
fish that were of no use to the fishermen. " 





86 



"I will tell you about another water 

bird; one that I used to see on some of 

I the lakes near here. I am sorry to say 

that it is quite rare now for the bird 

I mean is the most beautiful duck in 

I the world, the Wood Duck." 

"Here is his picture in our Bird 
I Guide, Dorothy !" 

"Isn't he beautiful ! Just look at 
| his lovely crest ! And see how differ- 
j ent his mate is !" exclaimed Dorothy. 
"The females of nearly all ducks 
are duller colored than their mates, 
Dorothy, probably so they will not 
show so plainly when they are sitting upon their nests. 
Still, Mrs. Wood Duck is a very handsome bird, even if her 
dress cannot compare with that of the male. 

"Wood Ducks live around fresh water entirely and they 
like best, clear lakes surrounded by woods. They usually 
keep in little lagoons, or inlets, where they are partly hid- 
den by grasses. I have very seldom seen them swimming 
out in the lakes where they were in plain sight. Some peo- 
ple call the ducks Bridal Ducks because of the beautiful 



From "Water Birds 

WOOD DUCK 



plumage of the male, and others call them Summer Ducks 
because they are., or were^ found almost everywhere in the 
United States in summer^ while most of the ducks live in 
summer , north of our boundaries. 

"Wood Ducks nest in holes in trees,, usually from three 
to twenty feet above ground. That is probably one of the 
reasons they are not as common here as they were, for large 
trees suitable for them to nest in are getting scarcer every 
year. 

"As almost everyone knows^ little ducks are born covered 
with soft down; they can run and swim but of course they 
cannot fly for a long time." 

"How do they reach the ground when the nest is high 
up?" asked Dick. 

"If the trunk of the tree is quite slanting^ they can flutter 
down it; if it is too steep for that; the mother takes each ^ 
one^ in turn^ by the wing and flies down with it. When she -0%<fy 
has them all safely on the ground she leads them to the wat- 
er; they plunge in and swim about close to the edge^ feed- 
ing upon small insects and nibbling at tender roots of/// 
grasses that mother duck pull up for them. 

"Wood Duck are very easily domesticated and are often 
seen in parks or ornamental ponds on private estates." 








88 



"Uncle George! Will you tell us 
tonight of some of the birds you have 
seen in other parts of the country?" 

"All right, children ! Let me see, — 
suppose I tell you about the pelicans 
in Florida. " 

"Oh, good!" exclaimed Dorothy, 
"those are the birds with the big, fun- 
ny bills." Dick was rapidly turning 
over the pages of his Bird Book to see 
just what the pelicans looked like 

"Two kinds of pelicans are found 
in Florida, the White Pelican and the 
Brown Pelican. The last kind are 
found in Florida at all times of the year and are the ones 
I will tell you about. The White Pelicans are larger and 
their plumage is white all over; they are found in Florida 
in the winter but spend the summer in the northwestern 
parts of the United States and Canada. 

"Brown Pelicans are found in all the Southern States 
and occasionally one even strays as far north as Maine. 
There is a small island in the Indian River (Florida) that 
has always been called Pelican Island because of the large 
numbers of pelicans that made their homes there. Tourists 




From ''Water Birds" 

BROWN PELICAN 



89 



travelling down this river used to shoot at and frighten 
away the pelicans so that fewer and fewer of them nested 
on the island each year. The Audubon societies put a stop 
to this by having the island made a government reservation 
and so protecting the birds from being disturbed. They 
are now more abundant on this island in the nesting season 
than ever before. 

"Most of their nests are on the ground, but some are lo- 
cated in the few, low trees that remain on the island; the 
nests, made of sticks, are quite large and hollowed so that 
the large white eggs will not roll out. 

"Young pelicans are quite noisy but the adults make hard- 
ly a sound. When anyone visits the island, all the young 
pelicans that can walk, leave their nest and waddle off, 
screaming at the top of their voices, before the intruder; 
but the old birds fly about without making any sound in pro- 
test. 

"Pelicans live and feed their young chiefly upon little 
fish that they catch. If, when one is circling about over the 
water, it sees a school of small fish, he at once plunges 
after them and secures what he can in his large mouth; the K^3 
head is thrown back so the water drains out and the solid %J§wa^lLs'^ 
mass of fish is either eaten or taken home to the little ones. ^^O^J$/ f ?,\ '" 



U 



*v 



W- 



? w.. t 




90 

"Cormorants are fine fishermen; I 
think that they really are the best 
fishermen of all birds. There are a 
number of kinds of cormorants found 
in North America, several species liv- 
ing on the Pacific coast and two 
on the Atlantic. The Double-crested 
Cormorant is most common from Flor- 
ida to North Carolina and up the 
Mississippi Valley to Hudson Bay. 
The Common Cormorant, the one 
whose picture Dick is now looking at 
in his Bird Guide, nests on rocks and 
cliffs from Maine to Labrador. 
"Let us look at this picture, together, and I will tell you 
why cormorants are such good fisher birds. First I will tell 
you how they catch them. They do not spear them as the 
heron does, nor do they plunge and seize them as ospreys, 
the kingfishers and the pelicans do; they dive and pursue 
the fish under water until thej catch them. 

"Of course they have to swim very fast to catch fish in 
this way, but they are shaped just right for speed. See 
how small the head is and how the long neck tapers Into the 
spindle-shaped body. The tail feathers are very stiff, mak- 




From "Water Birds' 

CORMORANT 



91 

ing an excellent rudder. The legs are set well back and all 
the toes are connected by webs so that he gets great force to 
propel him forward through the water. In addition^ he of- 
ten uses his wings so as to go faster,, — really flies under 
water. You can also see in the picture that his bill has a 
hook at the tip^ so there is small chance of a fish escaping 
once he has closed upon it. 

"The Chinese used to train cormorants to fish for them. 
They do so now_, but the sport is carried on chiefly to amuse 
tourists. A ring is placed about the neck of the bird so it 
cannot swallow the fish; and it dives from the raft or boat 
of its owner. Soon it will come to the surface with a fish 
firmly held in its bill and swim back to its master. 

"The Common Cormorant makes its nest out of seaweed tt\^ nUi 
and rubbishy placed in a pile on rocky islets or cliffs. The )fc ^jj0S- 
three or four eggs are rather long and narrow and are ./^j^f ' x 
greenish-blue in color; but they are so thickly covered with 7Ijk^^ XN -" 



a chalky deposit that the color sometimes cannot be seen. ^jJjjJkSZ * 
The young are born naked; their skin resembling a black y 
kid glove. The parents have to keep close watch over them -_ 
for gulls are always hovering about waiting for a chance 
to seize and devour the little ones." 





92 

"Must you really go home tomor- 
row^ Uncle George?" asked Dick one 
•veiling. 

"Yes, Dick; I must. My work in 

p j the city is finished and I have lots of 

jljjt work on hand at home waiting for 

d H me -" 

m "That is too bad. But, then, Dor- 

othy and I are going next week to 
visit grandma in Maine, so we will be 
able to see some new birds ourselves. 
What do you think we will see, 

From "Water Birds' Uncle?" 

COMMON TERN "I will tell you this evening about 

some of the birds you may see; two of them I know you will 
see a great many of and the third you may find if you look 
sharp. 

"Among the most beautiful of the birds seen along the 
New England coast in summer are the terns. They are so 
graceful and their flight so nearly resembles that of the 
swallows, that they are often known as 'Sea Swallows.' 

"You will probably see two kinds of terns but you will 
have to look sharp to notice the difference. One, the Arc- 
tic Tern has the bill wholly red, while the other, the Com- 
mon Tern has the outer end of the bill, black. 



93 



"You will see many of them coursing up and down the 
beach or hovering over the water, keeping sharp lookout 
for little fish. There is nothing more pleasant than to sit 
on a broad sandy beach, away from all signs of houses, 
and listen to the surf rolling in and to the wild cries of the 
terns. Theirs is a very peculiar note^ — a purring, vibrant, 
twanging 'tee-arr-r-r' ; a rather pleasing sound that goes 
well with the surroundings. 

"You will notice that terns nearly always fly with their 
bill pointed straight down. Sometimes they fold their wings 
and dive down^ going entirely under water after little fish^ 
but usually they follow a school near the surface and keep 
darting down, just putting the head under water^ getting 
a fish at almost every dip. They like little mackerel and 
are often called by fishermen 'Mackerel Gulls.' 

"Most of the low. sandy islands along the coast are used 
by them for nesting. These places are very interesting 
to visit in June or July^ when you may find many of their 
nests, usually just a hollow in the ground, occupied by 
three spotted^ grayish-brown eggs^ or by the handsome 
downy, tern-chicks. The little fellows can run about and 
can swim, but are not nearly as quick as the young of grouse 
or quail." 




94 



"The Herring Gull is one of the 
largest of the gulls and is the one that 
you will find very abundant every- 
where along the Maine coast in sum- 
mer. In winter j many of them may 
be seen in all the harbors from Maine 
to Georgia ; they fly about the wharves 
H and follow vessels picking up any 
H refuse that may be thrown overboard. 
"They are always hungry and will 
eat almost anything. All the gulls 



have a great liking for eggs or young 
From "Water Birds' of any of the sea birds^ so all of these 
HERRING GULL have to keep very close watch to pre- 

vent their homes being robbed; gulls even rob each others 
nests when they find them unguarded. 

"When you see gulls and terns,, you want to notice par- 
ticularly the following differences between them: Gulls 
have strongs almost hooked bills while those of terns are 
sharply pointed. Gulls have the tails square at the end 
(except one species) , while the tails of most terns are fork- 
ed. Gulls fly most often with the bill carried horizontally 
in front of thenx, while terns usually have theirs pointed 
down towards the water. Gulls commonly float on the sur- 




95 



face of the water, while terns very rarely do. Terns get 
their food by divings sometimes going entirely under water, 
while gulls never do. Gulls are gourmands and will eat 
most anything, usually refuse or dead fish floating on the 
water, while terns eat only living little fish, insects or small 
shellfish. 

"I have been to Duck Island, not far from where you are 
going, Dick, several times just to study the gulls, petrels and 
guillemots that nest there. There are several thousand pairs 
of gulls on this island and, as each one screams its loudest 
when you are in their nesting grounds, you can imagine 
what a noise there is ; it reminds me most of several thous- 
and hens, each trying to cackle louder than the other. 

"Some of the gulls make nests of seaweed and sticks, 
while others just lay their eggs in hollows on the ground; 
the three eggs are olive-gray, spotted with black. The 
young gulls are very funny little fellows ; they are covered 
with a gray down and are spotted with brown. They are 
very lively and can run, I think, almost as fast as Dick can. 
I know I had all I could do to catch a few of them so I 
could take pictures of them. They not only can run, but 
they can swim like ducks ; several that I chased ran to the 
water, plunged in and swam away as though they had al- 
ways been used to doing so, but it was probably the first 
time they had ever been in the water." 




"#/„,, - t 





96 



"Now j children, I have just time to 
tell you about one more bird; and I 
will take one that I do not think you 
have ever seen, — the Loon or Great 
Northern Diver. You may, perhaps 
see one, on your vacation, for I believe 
there is a pretty little lake within 
about two miles of where you are go- 
ing. 

"Loons are big birds with large 
heavy bodies and big, strong, sharply- 
pointed bills. They are very clever 
fishers, swimming under water the 
same as cormorants do, using both 
their wings and powerful feet. 

"You can see from the picture how beautifully they are 
marked with black and white in summer; in winter they are 
just plain gray above and white below. 

"We sometimes hear some disrespectful person say that 
someone is as 'crazy as a loon' or 'loony.' Both these ex- 
pressions get their origin from the peculiar actions of the 
males in spring when they are trying to win the love of 
some of the opposite sex. I have never seen this perform- 
ance, but it is said by several, who claim to have witnessed 
it, that the males line up at one end of the pond and appar- 



LOON 



97 



ently at a given signal all start running and partly flying 
along the water to the other end. As they rush by the ad- 
miring maiden loons, each male cries out his loud, laughing 
'wah-hoo-o-o-o.' It surely would be called a 'crazy' per- 
formance, but it is not more so than the 'love antics' of some 
other species of birds, especially some of the grouse fam- 
ily^ whose eccentric dancings drumming, booming, pouting, 
etc. are well known. 

''Many loons spend the winter off the Atlantic coast and 
on lakes and rivers as far north as the water remains open. 
While crossing Chesapeake Bay, I have seen hundreds of 
them leaving the water in front of the boat. Their wings 
are small so they have to run along the water some distance 
before they get speed enough to rise into the air. Some of 
them would try to fly and, finding that they were unable to 
get started soon enough, would have to dive and swim under 
the boat. Their flight, when they do get started, is very 
swift. 

"In summer, they frequent fresh water ponds and lakes. 
Sometimes they make a nest of weeds and leaves and, again, 
they just lay their two dark greenish-brown, spotted eggs 
upon the bare ground, usually under the shelter of over- 
hanging brush. The nests are always near the water, so 
the bird can at once slide off the eggs into the water if 
danger comes, for they are very awkward walkers on land." 




INDEX 

PAGE 

Blackbird, Red-winged . 48 

The Red-winged Blackbird, or one of its six very 
similar subspecies, is found throughout North Amer- 
ica; it winters in the Gulf States. It arrives in the 
northern states about March 1st, and leaves the last 
of October. It is 9 1-2 in. in length. 

Bluebird 18 

North America east of the Rockies, spending the 
summer in northern United States and southern Can- 
ada and wintering in the southern half of the United 
States. Length 7 in. 

Bob-White ; Quail 78 

Resident in the United States east of the Rocky 
Mountains. A very useful bird, eating quantities of 
hard-shelled beetles not touched by other species. 
Length 10 in. 

Catbird 26 

Breeds throughout the United States and southern 
Canada, except the Pacific coast states. Winters in 
the Gulf States. Length nearly 9 in. Arrives in the 
northern states about Mav 1st. 



II 

Chickadee 20 

Very common, breeding from Pennsylvania and Illi- 
nois north to Labrador; migrates but a short distance 
from its breeding grounds. Length 5 1-4 in. 

Cormorant 90 

The Common Cormorant breeds on the Atlantic 
coast from Maine to Labrador and winters south to the 
Carolinas. The Double-crested Cormorant breeds 
from Minnesota and Dakota northwards and winters 
in the southern states. Length from 30 in. to 3 feet. 

Cowbird 50 

Common in eastern North America, breeding from 
the Gulf of Mexico north to New Brunswick and Hud- 
son Bay; winters in the southern half of the United 
States. Length nearly 8 in. 

Cuckoo, Black-billed 66 

Eastern North American, breeding north to Labra- 
dor. Winters south of the United States to northern 
South America. Length 11 3-4 in. Arrives in north- 
ern states about May 15th. 

Dove, Mourning 74 

Breeds throughout the United States and southern 
Canada. Winters in the southern half of the United 
States. Length nearly 12 in. 

Duck, Wood 86 

Breeds locally from Florida to Labrador and Brit- 
ish Columbia. Winters from New Jersey and British 
Columbia southwards. Length 18 1-2 in. 



Ill 



Goldfinch 44 

Abundant resident in the United States and south- 
ern Canada, congregating in flocks in winter. Length 
5 1-4 in. 



Grouse, Ruffed 76 

Common and resident throughout the United States 
and southern Canada. Length 17 in. 



Gull, Herring 94 

Breeds from Maine, the Great Lakes and British 
Columbia northwards; winters south to the Gulf of 
Mexico. Length 24 in. 



Hawk, Sparrow 72 

Eastern North America, breeding from the Gulf 
States to Hudson Bay and Labrador. Winters from 
Xew Jersey and Missouri southwards. Length 
10 1-2 in. 



Heron, Blue 84 

Whole of North America south of the Arctic regions, 
breeding throughout the range. Winters in the south- 
ern half of the United States. Length 45 in. 



IV 

Hummingbird, Ruby-throated 60 

Breeds in eastern North America from Florida to 
Labrador. Winters from Mexico to northern South 
America. Arrives in the northern states about May 
15th. Length 3 1-2 in. 

Jay, Blue 56 

Common throughout eastern North America. Resi- 
dent except in the very northern parts of its range. 
Length 11 3-4 in. 

Junco, Slate-colored 40 

Eastern North America, breeding from northern 
New England and Minnesota northward. Winters 
throughout the United States. Length 6 1-4 in. 

Kingbird 54 

Whole of temperate North America, breeding from 
the Gulf north to New Brunswick, Manitoba and Brit- 
ish Columbia. Winters in Cuba, Mexico and Central 
America. Arrives in the northern states about May 
5th. Length 8 1-2 in. 

Kingfisher 64 

Breeds from the Gulf of Mexico north to the Arctic 
regions. Winters in the southern half of the United 
States. Arrives in the northern states about March 
20th. Length 13 in. 



Loon; Great Northern Diver 96 

Breeds from the northern edge of the United States 
north to the Arctic Circle. Winters in the southern 
half of the United States and farther north on the 
seacoasts. Length 27 in. 

NlGHTHAWK 62 

Breeds from the Gulf coast to Labrador and Brit- 
ish Columbia. Winters south of the United States. 
Arrives in the northern states about the last of April. 
Length 10 in. 

Nuthatch,, White-breasted 22 

Breeds and is resident from the Gulf States to south- 
ern Canada. Length 6 in. 

Oriole, Baltimore 46 

Breeds from Florida north to New Brunswick and 
Hudson Bay. Winters in Central and South America. 
Arrives in the northern states last of April. Length 

7 1-2 in. 

Osprey; Fish Hawk 70 

Whole of America^ breeding from the Gulf to the 
Arctic Circle. Winters in the southern half of the 
United States. Length 23 in. 



VI 



Owl, Barred Q8 

Eastern North America from Gulf of Mexico north 
to Nova Scotia and Manitoba. Resident except in the 
northern portion of its range. Length 20 in. 

Pelican, Brown 88 

Resident and breeds in the Gulf States. Often 
strays to northern United States. Length 50 in. 

Pewee, Wood 52 

Eastern North America, breeding from the Gulf 
States north to Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Winters 
in Central America. Arrives in the Northern states 
about May 15th. Length 6 1-2 in. 

Redstart 28 

Breeds from North Carolina and Kansas north to 
Labrador and Alaska. Winters in the W T est Indies, 
Central and South America. Arrives in the northern 
states May 1st. Length 5 1-2 in. 

Sandpiper, Spotted 80 

Breeds throughout the United States and the south- 
ern half of Canada. Winters from the Gulf States 
southward. Arrives in the northern states the last 
week in April. Length 7 1-2 in. 



VII 



Shrike,, Northern 32 

North America, breeding from Labrador to Alaska. 
Winters south to Virginia, Kansas and California. 
Length 10 1-4 in. 

Sparrow, Chipping 42 

Very common summer resident, breeding from the 
Gulf States north to Newfoundland and Hudson Bay. 
Winters in the Gulf States. Arrives in the northern 
states about April 10th. Length 5 1-4 in. 

Swallow, Barn 34 

Common. Breeds from the Gulf States to the Arc- 
tic Circle. Winters in northern South America. Ar- 
rives in the northern states about the last week in 
April. Length 7 1-2 in. 

Tanager, Scarlet 36 

Eastern United States, breeding in the northern half 
and also southern Canada. Winters in Central and 
South America. Arrives in the northern states about 
May 10th. Length 7 1-2 in. 

Tern, Common 92 

Breeds from the Gulf States to the Arctic Circle. 
Winters south of the United States. Length 15 in. 



VIII 

Towhee ; Chewink 38 

Eastern United States, breeding from Georgia north 
to Maine and Manitoba. Winters in the southern half 
of the United States. Arrives in the northern states 
the last week in April. Length 8 in. 

Warbler, Black-throated Green 30 

Eastern North America, breeding from Connecti- 
cut and Illinois north to Nova Scotia and Hudson Bay. 
Winters in Central America. Arrives in the northern 
states the last week in April. Length 5 in. 



Woodcock 82 

Eastern North America, breeding from the Gulf to 
Labrador and Manitoba and wintering in the southern 
states. Length 11 in. 

Woodpecker, Downy 58 

Common resident in eastern North America. Mi- 
grates only from the extreme northern parts of its 
range. Length 6 in. 

Wren, House 24 

Eastern North America, breeding north to Maine 
and Manitoba. Winters in the southern states. Arrives 
in northern states the last of April. Length 4 3-4 in. 



BIRD PICTURES 

—COLORED— 

For school use, composition work, decorations, etc. 

40 SUBJECTS 

Each of the 40 birds shown in this book is printed, separ- 
ately, on paper about 3 x 4 in. 

—ONE CENT EACH— 

They can be procured at your bookstore, of the publisher, 
or from Chas. K. Reed, Worcester, Mass., at a penny each in 
lots of 10 or more, assorted or alike, as you wish. 



WATER BIRDS 



By CHESTER A. REED, B. S. 

This book is uniform in size and scope with. LAND BIRDS. 
It includes all of the Water Birds, Game Birds and Birds of 
Prey, east of the Rockies. Each species is ILLUSTRATED 
IN COLOR from oil paintings; the bird, its habits and nesting 
habits are described. 

The pictures show more than 230 birds in color, every spe- 
cies found in our range. They exceed in number those in any 
other bird book. In quality they cannot be surpassed — ex- 
quisite gems, each with an attractive background typical of 
the habitat of the species. 

"LAND BIRDS" and WATER BIRDS" are the only books, 
regardless of price, that describe and show in color every bird. 
250 pages, neatly boxed. 

Bound in Cloth, $1.00 net; in Leather, $1.25 net; postage, 5c. 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS' EGGS 

By CHESTER A. REED, B. S. 

This is the only book on the market that gives illustrations 
of the eggs of all North American birds. Each egg is shown 
FULL SIZE, photographed directly from an authentic and 
well marked specimen. There are a great many full-page 
plates of nests and eggs in their natural situations. 

The habitat and habits of each bird are given. 

It is finely printed on the best of paper and handsomely 
bound in cloth. 350 pages — 6 x 9 inches. 

$2.50 net; postage, 25c. 



LAND BIRDS 

By CHESTER A. REED, B. S. 

An illustrated, pocket text book that enables anyone to 
quickly identify any song or insectivorous bird found east of 
the Rocky Mountains. It describes their habits and peculiar- 
ities; tells you where to look for them and describes their 
nests, eggs and songs. 

EVERY BIRD IS SHOWN IN COLOR, including the females 
and young where the plumage differs, from watercolor draw- 
ings by the 4-color process. The illustrations are the BEST, 
the MOST ACCURATE, and the MOST VALUABLE ever 
printed in a bird book. 

"LAND BIRDS" is the most popular and has had the 
LARGEST SALE of any bird book published in this country. 
It is used and recommended by our leading Ornithologists and 
teachers. 230 pages. 

Bound in Cloth, 75c. net; in Leather, $1.00 net; postage, 5c. 



COLOR KEY TO N. A. BIRDS 



By F. M. CHAPMAN and C. A, REED 

This might well be called an illustrated dictionary of North 
American birds, the male of each species being shown in 
COLOR from pen and ink drawings. Uniform with Egg Book. 
350 pages. 

$2.50 net; postage 25c. 



. FLOWER GUIDE 



By CHESTER A. REED, B. S. 

A guide to the common wild flowers found in the Eastern 
and Middle States. 

Wild Flower Guide is the some size and scope as Bird 
Guide. It has had an extraordinary sale and has been adopted 
and used in quantities in many of our leading colleges and 
schools. 

The COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS, 192 in number, are beau- 
tiful, artistic and accurate reproductions from oil paintings; the 
finest series ever made. The text tells where each is found, 
when it blooms, whether in woods, fields, swamps, etc., the 
height that the plant attains, whether it is self-fertilized or 
cross fertilized by insects and how; in fact it gives a great 
deal more information than one would think possible in a 
book to fit comfortably in the pocket. 

Bound in Cloth, 75c; in Leather, $1.00; postage, 5c. 



GOLDFISH, AQUARIA AND FERNERIES 

How to make aquaria. How to fit them up; all about gold- 
fish and fresh water fish that are suitable for the aquarium. 
Water plants are described, as well as many curiosities that 
can be kept in the tanks. All these things are FINELY 
ILLUSTRATED. Cloth bound, 50c; postage, 5c, 



GUIDE TO TAXIDERMY 

A practical and thorough instructor in the art of mounting 
birds, mammals, heads, fish, etc. Fully illustrated; cloth 
bound; 310 pages. $1.65 postpaid. 



GUIDE TO THE MUSHROOMS 

By EMMA TAYLOR COLE 

Tells HOW, WHEN and WHERE they grow; how to collect 
and prepare them for the table; describes the common kinds 
both edible and poisonous. Handsomely illustrated with about 
70 halftones from photographs of living mushrooms and five 
PLATES IN COLOR. Uniform with ''Wild Flowers." 

$1.50 net; postage, 10c. 

WILD FLOWERS 

East of the Rockies 

By CHESTER A. REED, B. S. 

The most complete popular book about Wild Flowers. In 
fact it is in a class by itself. 

Besides giving a great deal of valuable and importauf in- 
formation concerning plant ways, it has PULL PAGE COL- 
ORED PLATES by the best process, showing 320 SPEd^S 
OP FLOWERS. 

It is a beautiful and useful book. 450 pages; finely bound; 
boxed. $2.50 net; postage 15c. 



I 




FIELD GLASSES FOR BIRD 
STUDY 

or equally good for the mountains, sea shore or theatre, or 
wherever a large, clear image of an object is desired. 

We carefully examined more than a hundred makes of field 
glasses, to select the ones best adapted for bird study. 

We found one make that was superior to any other of the 
same price and equal optically, and nearly as well made as 
those costing three times as much. 

They magnify about three diameters, and have an unusual- 
ly large field of vision or angle of view, making it easy to 
find a bird or keep him in sight. Price only $5.00 postpaid. 
CHAS. K. REED - - Worcester, Mass. 



SEP 18 19U 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





